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HISTORY 


OF    THE 


TOWN  OF  PLYMOUTH 


FROM   ITS    FIRST   SETTLEMENT    IN    1620,  TO 
TH  E    YEAR    1832. 


BY  JAMES  THACHER,  M.  D.,  A.  A.  S.  &c. 


Ask  thy  fathers,  and  they  will  show  thee  ;  thy  elders,  and  they  will  tell  thee. 


/    BOSTONi 
MARSH,    CAPEN   &   LYON 

183-2. 


Entered  according  to    Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year    1839,  by  Marsh,  Cafsc!' 
A»D  Ltow,  in  the  Clerk's  OflSice  of  the  District  Court  of  Masscchusotts. 


W*ITT     AND     DOW'S     Pre  SB. 


PREFACE 


The  design  of  this  publication  is  to  present  a  minute 
iciarrative  of  the  settlement  of  the  oldest  town  in  the 
New  England  territories. 

^  Those  who  have  reviewed  the  numerous  local  histo- 
ries produced  by  learned  antiquarians,  may  imagine  that 
httle  remains  of  pilgrim  story  for  the  exercise  of  anoth- 
er pen,  but  the  gleanings  which  escape  the  research, 
or  would    not  comport  with  the  views  of  the  technical 
historian,  may  yet  be  found  to  bear  a  peculiar  interest  in 
a^  memoir  of  less  import,  and  should  not  be  lost  to  so- 
ciety.    There  are,  moreover,  numerous  events  and  in- 
cidents of  more  recent  occurrence,  which  the  antiquari- 
an would  lament  should  be  consigned  to  the  shades  of  ob- 
livion.    The  author  has  endeavored  to  exhibit  a  faith- 
ful delineation    of  the  characters  of  our  venerated  fath- 
ers, from  whom  we  inherit  civil   and  religious  founda^ 
tions  incomparably  the  wisest  and  best  that  ever  a  po- 
litical body  bequeathed  to  their  posterity.    It  is  from  our 
fathers,  that  we  receive  instruction  in  the  radical  prin- 
ciples,which  are  recognized  at  the  present  era  as  the  im- 
mutable laws  of  the  rights  of  man,  and   their  noble  a- 
chievements  were  highly  prized  and  gloriously  sustained 
by  the  sages  of  our  revolution  in  1776.    Let  not,  there- 
fore, the  sons  dishonor  their  father's  holy  standard  ;  it 
was  their   ardent  zeal  and   heavenly  mindedness,  that 
prompted  them  to  commence  the  race  of  liberty  and 
freedom,  and  their  spirits,   tracing  through  the  eye  of 
faith  the  glorious  destiny  of  future   generations,  were 
sustamed  by  a  holy  trust.     Thej  may  have  had  a  pro- 


IV  PREFACE. 

phetic  vision  of  their  descendants  assembling  in  mag- 
nificent temples,  gratefully  chanting  their  father's  prais- 
es, and  inculcating  those  pure  principles  of  virtue  and 
religion  which  they  assiduously  cherished  as  the  ob- 
jects of  their   fondest  attachment. 

This  work  is  the  result  of  much  investigation  and 
research,  the  materials  are  derived  from  the  most  sub- 
stantial sources,  as  the  Old  Colony  records,  Judge  Da- 
vis's edition  of  Morton's  memorial,  Historical  society's 
collections,  Belknap's  biography,  Winthrop's  history 
by  Savage.  Hutchinson's  history,  and  Baylies  history 
of  the  Old  Colony. 

Although  this  is  not  to  be  considered  as  an  elaborate 
history,  it  may  be  presumed  that  no  essential  portion  of 
local  matter  interesting  to  the  antiquarian  has  been 
overlooked.  The  invaluable  document  furnished  by- 
Judge  Davis's  edition  of  Morton's  memorial  will  ever 
be  resorted  to  with  peculiar  interest,  and  this  consider- 
ation precludes  the  necessity,  if  not  propriety  of  a  more 
extended  narrative. 

The  author  feels  bound  to  express  his  acknowledge- 
ments to  Rossetter  Cotton  Esq.,  for  assistance  from  the 
public  records,  and  to  Dr  Winslow  Warren  for  his  re- 
view of  the  manuscript,  and  to  Isaac  Goodwin  Esq.,  of 
Worcester  for  useful  communications.  Other  gentle- 
men who  have  encouraged  the  undertaking  will  please 
to  accept  of  his  thanks.  We  are  indebted  to  George 
W.  Brimmer  Esq.  for  the  drawings  which  embellish 
the  work  and  for  which  our  acknowledgements  are  due. 

James  Thacher 

Plymouth,  July  4,  1832. 

P.  S.  The  author  would  be  much  gratified  were  it 
in  his  power  to  enter  particularly  into  genealogical  de- 
tail of  families,  but  this  would  greatly  exceed  the  lati- 
tude originally  prescribed  and  swell  the  volume  to  an 
inconvenient  size.  Could  he  have  indulged  in  his  own 
personal  feelings  many  more  worthies  would  have  been 
mentioned  which  are  entitled  to  a  kind  remembrance. 


IN  DEX. 


A. 

Adams,  John,  165. 

Adams,  John  Quinc-y,  165,  229. 

A^awam,  (Ipswich.)  21. 

Agawam,  (Buzzard's  Bay,)  156. 

Agriculture,  336. 

Agents  for  obtaining  charter,  166. 

Akien,  John,  31,  112,  167. 

his  death  and  character, 163. 

. his  descendants,  164,  165. 

Allerton,John,81,85, 
Alarm  in  town,  214. 
Almshouse,  366. 
Anecdotes  of  Tories,  208,  209, 

of  Ma-sasoit,90. 

of  Indian  constable,  158. 

of  Capt,  M.  Standish,  112. 

Andros,  Sir  Edmund, 161,162, 165. 
Anawon  and  Tispiquin,  hard  late 

of,  146. 
Anniversary  of  forefathers  should 

be  21st,  not  22d  Dec.  25. 
. celebration  of,  180, 181,186, 

192,  229.  232,  242,  246,  259, 

267, 276, 277. 
Anniversary    ot    Independence, 

269,  271. 
Assistants,  71,96. 

their  salary,  134. 

Atwood,  John,  death  of,  102. 
Aspinet,  Sachem,  45. 
American   Antiquarian    Society, 

252. 

Archbishop  Laud's  arbitrary  con- 
duct, 296. 

Arch  stone  bridge  built,  239. 

B. 
Bacon,  Rev.  Ja.ob,  312. 
Balfour,  Captain,  and  his  officers, 

210,  211 
Bank,  Plymouth,  368. 


Old  Colony,  368. 

Savings,  368. 

Baptist  Society,  322. 

Belknap,  Rev.  Dr.  112, 113,283. 

Bay  of  Plymouth,  352. 

ofMassachusetts,352. 

Beach,  Plymouth,  356. 

Bell  presented  to  the  town,  225. 

Billington,  John,  first  offender,  39 

— —  executed,  86. 

By-law  of  the  town,  2.33. 

Billington,  Sea,  32,  346. 

Birth  day  of  our  nation,  24. 

^ of  Washington,  278. 

Blossom,  Thomas,  291. 
Boarding  house,  366. 
Bookstore,  '^66. 

Barque  built  at  Plymouth,  99. 
Battle  with  Indians,  143. 
Bradford,  William,  Governor,  19, 

23,41,49,70,73,85,90,98. 

death    and    posterity,    113, 

117,354. 

— —  his  wife  drowned,  23, 
114. 

Bradford,  William,  deputy  Gov- 
ernor, 118,  354,  167. 

Bradford,  LeBaron,  221. 

Brewster,  William,  Elder,  68. 

. death  of,  103,  292. 

character  and  posterity,  292. 

Brooks  and  ponds,  349. 

Burial  hill,  351. 

Bradford,  Alden,  119,  248,  253 
277. 

Bradlord,  Gamaliel,  119. 

Brazer,  Kev.  Mr.  278. 

C. 

Carver,  John,  first  Governor,  18, 

37,  .39 
death  and  burial,  40. 


VI 


INDEX. 


Clark's  Island,  first  landing  on,23 

description  of,  359. 

sold,  165,  360. 

Clark,  Thomas,  24,  355. 
Clark,  Nathaniel,  162,  167. 
Clark's  house  destroyed,  and  peo- 
ple murdered,  143. 

Clark,  Silver  Head  Torn,  143, 

Chilton,  Mary,  31. 

Commerce  and  navigation,  339. 

Close  of  Colonial   Government, 
167. 

Cod  Fishery,  342. 

Cape  Cod,  first  landing  at,  15, 

Coasting  vessels,  345. 

Cattle    and  goats  disiributed,  81. 

Civic  Festival,  224. 

Careswell,  109. 

Centennial  celebration,  246. 

Centennial  birthday  of  Washing- 
ton. 278. 

Cole's  Hill,  29,  206,  355. 

Compact  of  the  Pilgrims,  16. 

Combination  against  the  settlers, 
62. 

Commission  from  King  Charles  I. 
296. 

Charier  with  the  great  seal,  85. 

Charter  uniting  the  t\vo  colonies, 
166, 

Committee    of    corre?pondence, 
and  of  vigilance,  200,  206. 

Committee  respecting  sale  of  spir- 
its, 241. 

Club,  Old  Colony,  179  to  198. 

Congregational  Church,  289. 

Church,  Leyden,  81,  85. 

Church  of  PlynK)uth   send   dele- 
gates to  Salem  ordination.85. 

conlem plated    a     removal, 

102,  291. 

Church  membership,  a  qualifica- 
tion for  freemen,  96,  *299. 

Colonial  confederacy,  100,101. 
Crumble,  William,  321. 

Corn  hill,  19. 

Cold  Harbor,  19. 

Cannonicus,  a  Sachem,  49,  50. 

Corbitant,  a  Sachem,  45.  46,  48, 

63,  79. 
Cordage  company,  of  Plymouth, 

365. 
Culprits  punished,  41. 


.  Cotton,  Rev.  John,  Jr.  299. 

death  of,  301. 

Cotton,  Josiah,  176,  309. 

Cotton,  Rev.  John,  177. 

Cotton,  Theophilus,  210. 

Cotton,  Josiah,  177. 

Cotton,  Rosseter.  178. 

Cotton,  Ward,  178. 

Cotton  Factoi  ies,  364. 

Court  house  erected,  174,  335. 

Coppin,  the  pilot,  23. 

Cromwell.  Thomas,  104. 

Crosvvell,  Andrew,  308. 

Cow  yard,  361. 

Colonies  divided  into  three  coun- 

ties,  157. 
Census  at  early  periods,  168 
Census    including    families   and 

house*,  332. 
Cows  first  brought  over,  45. 
Cows  lost  on  the  passage,  86. 
Chauncy,  Dr.  Charles,  291. 
Cudworth,  James,  125,  143,  150. 
Cushinan,  Robert,  48,  69,  79. 
Cushman,   Thomas   Elder,    295, 

303. 
Cushman,  Isaac,  80,  300,  305. 
Christian  Society,  322. 
Commission  frora  king  Charles  II. 

131.  ^ 

D. 

Davis,  Capt.  Thomas,  221. 

Davis,  Thomas  Hon.  229. 

Davis,  William,  270. 

Davis,  John  Hon.  221,  249,  276. 

Davis,  Samuel,  274. 

Davis,  Isaac,  221. 

Davis,  Wendell,  221. 

Deer  in  the  forest,  338. 

Deer-trap,  19. 

De  Razier  visits  Plymouth,  82. 

Deputies  first  sent  for  legislation, 

98. 
Dwelling  houses,     number     of, 

333. 
Duel,  fir«tin  the  colony,  19. 
Dawson,  Captain,  skirmish  with, 

214. 
Drought,  alarming  one,  68. 
Dwight,  Rev.  Dr.   his  excellent 

remarks,  169.  320,  354. 
Deacons,  duties  of,  289. 


INDEX 


Vll 


E. 

Earthquakes,  97,  176,  178. 
Eells,  Rev.  Niilhaniel,  311. 
Ellis,  Rev.  307. 
Eel,  river,  349. 
Elder,  duties  of,  289. 
Embargo,  233- 

Engines,  346.  ^  ,„    .     , 

Execution  of  one    of  Weston  s 
men,  55. 

of  John  Billington,  86. 

, of  three  young  men,  97. 

oflhree  Indians,  142. 

of  a  soldier  foi  desertion, 145. 

of  Elizabeth  Colson,  173. 

Ecclesiastical  history.  281  to  328. 
Eel  River  church  and  society ,322. 
Everett,  Professor,  267. 
Electors,  qualificalions  of,  167. 

F. 

threatenened   in  town, 


Famine 
68. 
Fanal,  Captain,  shipwrecked,  229. 

Faunce,  Thomas,    Elder,  29,  30, 

156,  303,  312,  355,  note. 
First  encounter,  23, 
First  child  born, 22. 
First  patent,  67. 
First  Jury,  70. 
First  General  Assembly,  98. 
First  Selectmen,  105. 
First  prison  erected,  98. 
First  water  null,  86. 
First  union  of  colonies,  100. 
Fishery,  Cod  and  Mackerel,  342. 
Forefathers'  day,  25. 
Forefathers'  rock,  29,  201. 
Ferdiniind,  Gorges,  297. 
Fortification.,  53,  87, 92, 100,141. 
Fortune  arrives  with  passengers, 

48. 
Fort  Hill,  351. 
Frink,  Rev.  Thomas.  312. 
Fuller,  Dr.  Samuel,  85. 

death  of,  89. 

Fuller,  Samuel  and  Bridget,  131, 

(note)  304. 
Free  schools,  329. 

G. 

Governors  of  Plymouth   colony 


from  1620  to  1692,  168. 

Governor  Winthrop  visits  Ply- 
mouth, 87. 

. his  death,  104. 

Gorton,  Samuel,  96. 

Goodman,  John,  and  Peter  Brown 
lost  in  t  ^^  woods,  32. 

Goodwin,  Nathaniel,  245. 

Goodwin,  William,  269. 

Gray,  Edward,  and  descendants, 
353. 

Gray,  John,  354, 

Gurnet  and  light  house,  359. 

Great  herring  pond,  347. 

11. 

Hampden,  John,  59,  60. 

Hai  bor  of  Plymouth,  352. 

Hills,  350. 

Hmckley,    Thomas,    Governor, 

156,  166,  167. 
Hatherly,  Timothy,  69, 

death  of,  135. 

Hayward,  Beza,  275. 
Hobomok,  45,  46,  51,  to  62,  63. 
Howl  ami,  John,  138. 
Horses  first  noticed,  120. 
Horse  given  to  King  Philip,  120. 
Hovey,  Rev.  Ivory,  307. 
Holmes,  Rev.   Abiel,  D.  D.  29, 

145,  232. 
Hunt,  captured  and  sold  natives, 

35,  44. 
House  where  the  court  held  their 

sessions,  89. 
High  pines,  361. 


1. 

Jenney,  John  99. 
Jackson,  Abraham,  159. 
Judsoiu  Rev.  Adoniram,  321. 
Iron  manufactures,  362. 
Jones,  master  of  Mayflower,  14, 

18,  55. 
Indians,  description  of,  38. 
Indian  anecdote,  90,  158. 
Indian  Pawaws,  33. 
Indian  massacre,  143. 
Indian  Sachems,  miserable  death 

of,  66. 
Indian    prisoners,    treatment  of, 

146. 


vm 


INDEX. 


Indians  sold  for  slaves,  149. 
Indian  lands  purchased  for  equiv- 
alent considerations,  145. 
lyamugh,  Sachem,  44. 
Independency, 212. 

K. 
Kirkland,  Rev.  Dr.  112,  247. 
Kendal,  Rev.  James,  D.  D,  242 
251,  319,  324. 


L. 

Leonard,  Rev.    Nathaniel,  306, 

309,313,314. 
Little,  Rev.  Mr.   Ephraim,  304, 

306. 
Laws  and  penalties,  94. 

against  Quakers,  123,  126. 

against  stiong  drink,  149. 

against  sale  of  tea,  200,  202. 

against    smoking     in     the 

street,  233. 

regulating  the  Indians,  157. 

• of  the  colonv  revised,  138, 

158. 

Location  for  settlement,  26. 

Lothrop,  Isaac,  death  of,  175. 

LotJirop,  Isaac,  death  and  char- 
acter of,  235. 

Lothrop,  Nathaniel,  M.  D,  273. 

Lafayette,  correspondence  with, 
264. 

Le  Baron,  Dr.  Francis,  and  de- 
scen(!ants,  171. 

Light  house,  359. 

Ly ford,  John,  72  to  76. 

Lincoln,  Levi  Hon.  252. 

M. 

Mayflower,  her  burden,  14. 
■ arrives  at  Cape  Cod,  15. 

names  of  her  passengers, 16. 

enters  Plymouth  harbor,  26. 

returns  to  England,  39. 

Massasoit,  Intiian  chief,  36,  38, 

50,  52,  59,  60,  61,  62,  99. 

Morton,  Nathaniel,  Secretary, 
167. 

death,  character  and  descen- 
dants, 158. 

Morton,  Perez,  159. 

Morton,  Maicus,  158. 


Manomit  Ponds  Parish,  307. 
Memorial,   New  England,    136. 

160,  161. 
Militia,  362, 
Magnanimity  of  the   inhabitants 

of  Plymouth,  205. 
Manly,  Captain,  214. 
Monk's  Hill,  214. 
Mills,  348. 
Meeting  house  erected,  296,  303. 

313,  320. 
Morton,  Thomas,  84. 
Magee,  shipwreckel,  216. 
Massachusetts    tribe  of  Indians, 

47. 
Murdock,  John,  174. 
Morton,  Capt.  Nnthaniel,  211. 
Manufactures,  362. 
Market,  367. 
Massacre  of  English  in  Virginia, 

53. 
Manomet  Buzzard's  Bay,  58,  80. 
Monumental  edifice,  262. 
Meeting  house,  first  parish,  324, 

327. 

N. 
Names  of  passengers  in  the  May- 
flower, 16. 

of  those    who    landed    on 

Clark's  Island,  23. 

f  those  who    came  in  the 

Fortune,  48. 

of  those  who  have  deliver- 
ed discourses  at  our  anni- 
versaries, 369. 

Narragansets,  45,  49. 

Nausets,  35. 

Non-importaiion       of      English 

goods,  199. 
Norton,  Rev.  Mr.  John,  290. 
Newspapers,  365. 
New  Plymouth  first  named,  28. 
Nelson,  Capt.  Horatio,  220. 


O. 


Oldham,  John.  72  to  76. 

Old  Colony  Club,  179  to  19S. 

Old  Colony  B.nk.  .S68. 

Oldest  grave  stone,  353. 

Old  Colony  Peace  Society,  368. 

Orders  by  council  of  war,  103. 


INDEX.  " 


P.  ^ 


,a  Quakers  intrude  themselves,120. 

Vainet  river,  ly.  2! laws  and  penalties  against, 

Patuxet,  35.  ^„    ,26. 

llrolult'atZr  °f'  Ji^ts.  Q«ad;,ui„a_.  brothe.  of  Mass. 

Plymouth   laws,  94.  j^ 

Paddy,  William.  12T,  167,291.  •       2^^   2<,g 

'■""'l^Ofi'miBT  '"'''  lentous  tenets  of  the   Plymo- 

Persos'gad!,tt;d   at    Harvard  thean  fathers  289. 

Co,le'ge.332.  Sr:e"VonTs'a,d  "brooks,  346. 

PhiUp^  I^tan  k,ng,  129, 142.  B.ve.s.  p  ^^^  ^^^  _^_  ^^^ 

-Ph.hp  s  War   142.  ^  „  ^^,^„„_  286. 

=  'h'ijt  JeS:"™s,"44.        ^    —  M^  f--eineuer,286. 
_  hiswi.^aud  son    captured,  _-  h- ^ea*,  78,  287.^^  ^^^^ 

"niedand  decapitated,  144.  his  widow  and  son  Isaac, 

— mT^ht^chfeT'us."''"  ""  P.ohi'n'on's  church  sentiments 
^^;fs''^^„  cruel   fate   of,  147,      as  to  ecclesiastical  government, 

Phlpptfsir  William,  arrives,  166.  Robin'.on.  congregational  church. 
Patent  fraudulently  obtained  by  ^^^323.  ^^^  ^h.^iUr,  D.  D. 
PategunlH^ngthetwo  colonies,  _-«•  - ran*d"chrrfcter,3ia. 

«      I       -nrv  RC!  Rock,  forefathers'  29, 201. 

Prophecying,  88.  xvuv,^. 

Prince,  Tiiomas    Governor,   97,  ^ 

Itath  of,  and  descendants,  Selectmen  first  chosen   105 

jgg  Sausarnan,  John,  muidered,  I4i. 

Provision   made  for  pubUc  wor-  Sacrifice  rock,  351. 
^shTpard  public  sdiools,  148,  Ships  Ann  and   Little  James  ar- 

J 49  rive,  69. 

SrS,1li,300,3i4,   iS'JJ^hfppingpost.ae. 

Pkin  deiding,  189, 3.50.  Stages,  366. 

l:!i;:im  s,|';%? V7. 276.  fzj:qt....y  school,  218. 

?™dfri/err  bfo'^ks,  346.       Sn^ith^^Rev  Mr.  Ralph,  84,  290. 
Peeksuot  64  Statistics,  .U2  to  335. 

Fokanoket,seatofMassasoit,vis-  Steamboat,  345.     . 

it  to,  41    59.  fcsickness  among  the  settlers,  o^, 

Plymouth  bp'acb,  356.  89,305. 

Pdscilla   Mullens,  anecdote    of,  Streets  and  squares,  333. 

112.  Stamp  act,  17».  ^ 

Penalties  inflicted,   93,105,106,  Storm,  tremendous,  91,  17^. 

135,137.  S'^IT   '    f  QiT 

'  South  pond,  347. 


INDEX. 


Samoset  visits  the  settlers,  34, 36. 
Standish,  Capt.  Miles,  33,  50,  57, 
58,  64. 

his  personal  combat,  65. 

his  death,  111. 

Synod,  278,  398. 

Southworth,  Thomas,    116,  137. 

Southworth,  Constant,  116  ,  137. 

167. 
Southworth,  Mrs.  Alice,  116. 
Shirley,  James,  82. 
Style,  old  and  new,  15. 
Scammel  Alexander,  182,  185. 
Shays's  insurrection,  221. 
Spooner,  Ephraim,  29,  30,  242. 

death  and  character.  243. 

Societies,  367, 
Souther,  Nathaniel,  167. 
Shipwreck  at  Cape  Ann,  92. 

of  Capt.  Magee,  216. 

ofCapt.Farral,  229. 

Swords  of  Standish,  Carver    and 

Brewster,  112. 
Ship   from    Plymouth   taken   by 

Turkish  man  of  war,  78. 
Squanto,  36,  50  to  52. 

death  of,  56. 

Sampson,  Capt.  Simeon.  222, 
Sampson,  Zabdiel,  272. 
Shaw,  Ichabod,  259. 
Shaving  mills,  219. 
Strawberry  hill.  350. 
Stacy,  Rev.  Joseph,  306. 
Sullivan,  William  Hon.  276. 
Sargeant's  paintings,  267,  268. 
Stores  and  warehouses,  345. 
Sprague,  Samuel,  167. 

T. 

Terms  of  peace  with   Massasoit, 

37. 
Treatment  of   Indian    prisoners, 

146. 
Town,  spirited  conduct  of,  200  to 

206. 

provideslfor  grammar  school, 

2  J  8. 

petition     against    embargo 

and  war,  233,  328. 
petition  Congress  to  repair 

the  beach,  2tio. 


Town  sells  the  town  brook,  348. 
reduced  (o  great  difficulties, 

219. 
Town  council,  156. 
Town  meetings  and  proceedings, 

200  to  206.  ^ 

Taverns,  366. 
Tories  and  whigs,  207. 
Thomas,  William,  death  of,  105. 
Thomas,  Dr.  William,  228. 
Thomas,  Joshua,  105, 

death  of,  254. 

Thacher,  Anthony,  92. 

Tea,  sale  of,  prohibited,  200,202, 

Topography,  346. 

Tonnage,  341. 

Temperance,  368. 

Third  church  and  congregation, 

310,  314,  321. 
Torrey,  Deacon,  313. 
Thomas,  Col.  John,  255. 

U. 

Universalist  Society,  323. 
Vaccination  in  town,  241. 

W. 

Watson,  John,  and  son  John,  173. 

Watson,  George,  death  and  char- 
acter of,  226. 

Watson,  William,  240, 

Watson,  John,  210,  248,  263,271 

Watson's  hill,  36. 

Wharves  and  warehouses,  345. 

Wampum,  83. 

Wampum's  war,  174. 

Warren,  Richard,    and  descend- 
ants, 84, 

Warren,  James,  death  of,  172. 

Warren,  James   Hon.  death  and 
character,  235. 

Warren,  Henry,  238. 

Wads  worth,  Peleg,  182,  183. 

Whales  at  Plymouth,  20. 

Whale  fishery,  343. 

Williams,  Roger,  87,  290. 

WinsIow,Edward    Governor,  36, 
59,  60,  63,  91. 

his  death  and  character,&c. 

110. 

Winslow,  Josiah  Governor,  140. 


INDEX. 


XI 


his  death  and  descendants, 

150. 
Winslow,  General  John,  153,154. 
White,  Susannah,  (note)  22. 
White,  Peregrine,  22. 
White,  Hannah,  40,  156. 
Whitetield,  311. 
West,  Francis,  67. 
Wittawainat,  58,  64,  65. 
Weston's  settlement  at  Wattagus- 

set,  64,  55,  65. 


Winthrop,   Governor,  87,  104. 
Wheelock,  President,  112. 
Wilson,  Rev.  Mr.  87. 
Webster,  Daniel  lion.  247. 
W^ashington,.  death    of,  noliced, 

225. 

centennial  birth  day  of,278. 

Whig  and  Tory,  207. 

Washey,  a  Chinese    gentleman, 

240. 
Young  men's  celebration,  278. 


Fold-out 
Placeholder 


ut  is  being  digitized,  and  will  be  inserted  at  a 
future  date. 


HISTORY   OF   PLYMOUTH 


This  ancient  town,  the  cradle  of  New  England,  com- 
prised, in  its  original  limits,  the  present  town,  together 
with  Kingston,  Plympton,  Carver,  that  part  of  Ware- 
ham  called  Agawam,  and  part  ofHahfax.  Its  Indian 
name  was  Patuxet.  In  its  present  state,  it  is  16  miles 
long,  from  north  to  south,  and  from  5  to  16  miles  in 
breadth.  It  is  bounded  by  Kingston  on  the  north, 
Plympton  and  Carver  west,  Wareham  southwest,  and 
Sandwich,  south.  The  whole  extent  on  the  east  is  bound- 
ed by  the  sea  shore.  It  is  situated  in  latitude  41°  58% 
and  is  38  miles  south  of  Boston.  The  bay,  or  har- 
bor, at  the  head  of  which  the  town  stands  is  formed  by 
a  narrow  beach,  which  extends  from  Marshfield  south- 
erly six  miles,  the  head  of  which  is  a  high  knoll,  called 
Gurnet,  on  which  stands  the  light-house;  and  by 
another  beach,  which  extends  from  the  mouth  of  Eel 
River  in  Plymouth,  northerly  about  three  miles. 
Within  the  Gurnet  nose,  and  not  very  remote  from  the 
point  of  Plymouth  beach,  is  situated  Saquish  and  Clark's 
Island.  Saquish  is  connected  with  the  Gurnet  by  a 
narrow  beach.  On  the  shores  of  this  bay,  northerly, 
are  situated  the  villages  of  Duxbury  and  Kingston. 

History,     The   imperious  causes  justly  assigned  by 
the  Pilgrims  for  their  abandonment  of  their  native  soil, 
the  numerous  obstacles  which  they  were  called  to  en- 
2 


14  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1620 

counter,  and  their  preparations  for  the  hazardous  voy-  ' 
age  cannot  be  admitted  uitliin  the  designed  limits  of , 
this  work,  but  the  inquisitive  reader  is  referred  to  | 
more  elaborate  histories,  for  general  information.  I 
shall  therefore  commence  my  undertaking  with  the 
period  when  the  exiles  first  reached  the  shores  of  unex- 
plored New  England,  and  were  in  search  for  the  most 
eligible  place  for  settlement ;  and  where  is  the  event  in 
Divine  Providence  more  worthy  of  particular  and 
grateful  commemoration  ?  It  is  a  delightful  task  to  re- 
trospect to  those  interesting  scenes  when,  in  every  step, 
we  discover  a  christian's  faith  and  holy  zeal,  and  in 
every  exigence,  the  guidance  and  protection  of  Al- 
mighty power  and  wisdom.  While  the  establishment 
of  a  colony  and  an  Independent  Church  was  their  pri- 
mary object,  it  was  ordained,  that  our  fathers  should 
be  the  founders  of  an  empire.  It  will  be  my  pleasing 
employment  to  search  ancient  records,  and  collate  the 
memorials  of  their  cheerless  days.  Not  a  step  do  we 
take,  but  we  trace  the  footsteps  of  the  pilgrims;  our  :! 
possessions  have  been  their  possessions ;  not  the  town 
only,  but  the  whole  country  is  a  monument  of  their 
sacrifices.  In  portraying  the  history  of  the  town,  we 
disclose  the  essential  elements  of  the  puritan  character, 
and  demonstrate  the  noble  spirit  by  which  the  puritans 
were  actuated.  'Of  all  monuments,'  says  an  elegant 
writer,  '  raised  to  the  memory  of  distinguished  men, 
the  most  appropriate,  and  the  least  exceptionable,  are 
those,  whose  foundations  are  laid  in  their  own  works, 
and  which  are  constructed  of  materials,  supplied  and 
wrought  by  their  own  labors. ' — /.  (^uincy,  Esq^s.  Life 
of  his  Father. 

It  is  incumbent,  therefore,  on  the  historian,  faithfully  * 
and  impartially  to  transmit  to  posterity  these  materials^ 
that  the  noble  fabric  may  with  facility  be  constructed. 
The  Mayflower,  according  to  Secretary  Morton,  was 
of  burden  about  nine  score,  or  180  tons,  of  which  Mr. 
Jones  was  master.     This  ship  after  many  discouraging 


1620]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  15 

vicissitudes  sailed  from  Plymouth,  their  last  English  port, 
September  6,  1620;  and  having  experienced  a  perilous 
voyage,  tiiey  made  the  land  of  Cape  Cod  on  the  9th  of 
November,  and  on  the  11th,  old  style,*  anchored  safely 
in  the  harbor,  having  on  board  101  English  settlers, 
including  28  females  who  accompanied  their  husbands, 
and  42  children  and  servants.  On  their  arrival  their 
spirits  aspired  to  heaven,  and,  falling  on  their  knees, 
they  blessed  God  who  had  brought  them  over  the  vast 
and  furious  ocean,  and  delivered  them  from  many  perils 
and  miseries. 

Tlieir  original  destination  was  Hudson's  River,  that 
they  might  be  within  the  Virginia  patent;  but  the  Cap- 
tain, being  bribed  by  the  Dutch  Governor,  conducted 
them  to  New  England,  which  placed  them  beyond  the 
protection  of  English  charters.  Tiiis  providential 
event,  however,  proved  auspicious  to  their  enterprise,  as 
the  native  inhabitants  of  this  place  had  been  destroyed 
by  pestilence  a  few  years  before.  On  the  day  of  their 
arrival  at  Cape  Cod,  they  landed  15  or  16  men,  headed 
by  Capt.  Miles  Standish,  well  armed,  to  procure  wood 
and  reconnoitre  the  place.  They  immediately  com- 
menced repairing  the  shallop,  that  they  might  explore 
the  harbors  and  shores.  Well  aware  of  the  indispensa- 
ble necessity  of  adopting  a  salutary  form  of  government 

*  Style  is  olrl  and  new.  The  correction  of  the  calender  by  Pope 
Gregory,  in  1582,  was  not  adopted  by  the  British  parliament  ill 
1751,  wlien  it  was  directed  that  eleven  days  in  September,  1752, 
should  be  retrenched,  and  the  third  day  of  that  month  wns  reckon- 
ed the  fourteenth.  Tliis  mode  of  reckoning  is  ca  led  weif  style. 
and  the  year  was  made  to  commence  on  the  first  of  January  instead 
of  the  twenty-fifth  of  March,  Before  the  year  1752,  there  was 
sometimes  a  confusion  in  dates,  beiiig  diffirult  to  determine  wheth- 
er January,  February  and  a  part  of  March  clo^ed-tlie  yr'ar,  or  be- 
gsn  the  new  one.  Hence  tlie  made  of  double  dates,  as  March 
20th,  1676-7.  This  would  be  1676  old  stylf,  because  it  would  lack 
five  day-  to  complete  the  year;  but  in  the  new  style  i  iwould  be 
'77,  because  according  to  that  style  the  year  commence  <  the  first 
of  JanuarVt  and  March  is  the  third  month  in  the  new  year.  The 
double  dating  has  not  been  practised  since  the  year  1752,  See  note 
on  pp.  23,  24. 


^^  HISTORY    OF    PLY5I0UTH.  [1620 

to  restrain  the  vicious  and  the  perverse,  after  solemnly 
invoking  (he  throne  of  grace,  they  unanimously  sub- 
scribed to  the  following  judicious  compact. 

'  [n  the  name  of  God,  amen.     We  whose  names  are 
underwritten,  the  loyal  subjects  of  our  dread  sovereim 
lord.  King  James,  by  the  grace  of  God,  of  Great  Brit- 
am,  1^  ranee  and  Ireland,  king,  defender  of  the  faith,  &c 
havuig  undertaken,  for  the  glory  of  God  and   advance- 
ment of  the  christian   faith   and  honor  of  our  king  and 
country,   a    voyage    to    plant    the   first   colony  in    the 
northern  parts  of  Virginia,    do,  by  these  presents,  sol- 
emnly and   mutually,   in    the   presence  of  God   and  of 
one  another,  covenant  and  combine  ourselves  together 
into  a  civil    body   politic,   for  our  better  ordering  and 
preservation,  and  furtherance  of  the  ends  aforesaid  ;  and 
by  virtue  hereof,  do  enact,   constitute,   and  frame  such 
just  and  equal  laws  and  ordinances,  acts,  constitutions 
and  offices,  from  time  to  time,  as  shall  be  thought  most 
meet  and  convenient,  for  the  general  good  of  t^he  colo- 
ny,   unto   which   we    promise   all   due   subjection    and 
obedience.      In  witness   whereof,    we    nave    hereunto 
subscribed  our   names,  at  Cape   Cod,  the    Uth  day  of 
November,   m  the  year  of  the   reign  of  our  sovereiga^ 
l.ord  King  James  of  England,  France  and  Ireland,  the 
eighteenth,  and  of  Scotland  the  fifty-fourth,  Anno  Dom- 
ini 1620.' 

This  compact  was  subscribed  in  the  following  order  by 

TIT        T    ,        r.  No.  in  family.  No.  in  family. 

Mr.  John  Carver  f  8  John  Alden  1 
Mr.  William  Bradford  f  2  Mr.  Samuel  Fuller  2 
Mr.  Edward  Winslow  f  5  *  Mr.  Christopher  Mar- 
Mr.  William  Brewster  f  6  tin  f  4 
Mr.  Isaac  Allerton  f  6  *  Mr.  William  Mullins  +  5 
Capt.  Miles  Standish  f  2  *  Mr.  William  White  f    5^ 

*  Those  with  this  mark  Lrought  their  wives. 
t  Thos-e  who  died  before  the^end   of  the  next  March  are  distin- 
guished by  an  astei  ijsk. 


1620] 


HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH. 


17 


No,  in  family. 

(Besides  a  son  born  in 
Cape  Cod  harbor,  and 
named  Peregrine) 
Mr.  Richard  Warren 
John  Howland  (of  Car- 
ver's family) 

*  Edward  Fuller  f 
^  John  Turner 
Francib  Eaton  f 

*  James  Chilton  f 

*  John  Crackslon 
John  Bellington  f 

*  Moses  Fletcher 

*  John  Goodman 
*Degory  Priest 

*  Thomas  Williams 
Gilbert  VVinslow 

*  Edward  Marge  son 


No.  in  family. 

Peter  Brow^n  1 

*  Richard  Butteridge  1 

Geoige  Soule  (of  Ed- 
ward Winslow's  family) 
Mr.  Stephen  Hopkins  f  8 
4 
3 
2 
2 
3 
2 
1 
1 
1 
1 


^  Edward  Tilley  f 

*  John  Tilley  f 
Francis  Cook 

*  Thomas  Rogers 

*  Thomas  Tinker  f 

*  John  Ridgdale  f 
^  Richard  Clarke 
Richard  Gardiner 

*  John  Allerton 

*  Thomas  English 
Edward  Dotey,  Ed- 
ward Leister  (both  of  Ste- 
phen Hopkins'  flmiily.) 


*  This  brief,  and  comprehensive,  and  simple  instru- 
ment established  a  most  important  principle,  a  principle 
which  is  the  foundation  of  all  the  democratic  institutions 
of  America,  and  is  the  basis  of  the  republic;  and  how- 
ever it  nsay  be  expanded  and  complicated  in  our  various 
constitutions,  however  unequally  power  may  be  dis- 
tinguished in  the  different  branches  of  our  various  gov- 
ernments, has  imparted  to  each  its  strongest  and  most 
striking  characteristic. 

'Many  philosophers  have  since  appeared,  who  have, 
in  labored  treatises,  endeavored  to  prove  the  doctrine, 
that  the  rights  of  man  are  unalienable,  and  nations  have 
bled  to  defend  and  enforce  them  ;  yet  in  this  dark  age 
the  age  of  despotism  and  superstition,  when  no  toiigue 
dared  to  assert,  and  no  pen  to  write  this  bold  and  novel 
doctrine,  which  was  then  as  much  at  defiance  with 
common  opinion  as  with  actual  power,  of  which  the 
monarch  was  then  held  to  be  the  sole  fountain,  and 
the  theory  was  universal,  that  all  popular  rights  were 
2* 


^ 


IS  HISTORY   OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1620 

granted  by  the  crown,  in  this  remote  wilderness 
amongst  a  small  and  unknown  band  of  wandering  out- 
casts, ihe  principle  that  the  will  of  the  majority  of  the 
people  shall  govern,  was  first  conceived,  and  was  first 
practically  exemplified. 

*  The  pilgrims,  fi^om  their  notions  of  primitive  Chris- 
tianity, the  force  of  circumstances,  and  that  pure  moral 
feeling  which  is  the  offspring  of  true  religion,  discover- 
ed a  truth  in  the  science  of  government  which  had  been 
concealed  for  ages.  On  the  bleak  shore  of  a  barren 
wilderness,  in  the  midst  of  desolation,  with  the  blast  of 
winter  howling  around  them,  and  surrounded  wiih  dan- 
gers in  their  most  awful  and  appalling  forms,  the  pil- 
grims of  Leyden  laid  the  foundation  of  American  liber- 
ty.'— Baylies,  vol.  i.  p.  29. 

John  Carver  v/as  elected  to  officiate  as  Governor 
for  one  year.  Seventeen  days  elapsed  before  the 
shallop  could  be  repaired  fit  for  service  ;  during  the 
interval  the  new  comers  employed  themselves  in  ex- 
ploring the  shores  in  the  long-boat,  and  traversing  the 
woods  on  Cape  Cod.  On  Monday,  November  13th, 
the  women  were  set  ashore  to  wash,  and  their  shal- 
lop brought  on  shore  for  repairs.  The  men  formed  a 
company  to  travel  into  the  interior  to  view  the  land, 
and  endeavor  to  discover  the  inhabitants:  they  were 
commanded  by  Capt.  Miles  Standish,  well  armed,  and 
master  Jones,  of  the  Mayflower,  being  desirous  of  join- 
ing in  the  excursion,  was  made  their  leader.  They  spent 
two  or  three  days  ranging  the  woods,  and  saw  five  In- 
dians at  some  distance,  but  they  were  shy  and  made 
their  escape.  They  discovered  no  houses,  but  found 
a  large  in  n  ship's  kettle,  and  near  it  a  considerable 
quantity  of  Indian  corn  in  the  ears,  of  various  colors, 
buried  under  ground  in  handsome  baskets.  This  was 
a  new  article  to  the  settlers,  and  they  availed  themselves 
of  the  opportunity  to  supply  their  wants.  They  car- 
ried away  the  kettle  and  a  quantity  of  corn,  with  the  hon- 
est intention  of  replacing  it  when  opportunity  should 
offer,  which  they  eventually  did.. 


1620]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  19 

The  place  which  ihey  visited  was  Pamet  River, 
now  in  Truro.  Whilst  wandering  in  the  woods  they 
observed  a  young  sappling  bent  down  to  the  earth,  and 
some  acorns  strewed  underneath.  Stephen  Hopkins 
said  it  was  a  deer  trap  ;  IVlr.  William  Bradford,  after- 
wards governor,  stepping  too  near,  it  gave  a  sudden 
jerk  up  and  caught  him  by  the  leg ;  it  was  said  to  have 
been  a  very  pretty  device,  made  with  a  rope  of  Indian 
fabric,  and  having  a  noose  so  ingeniously  contrived  as 
to  answer  all  the  purposes  of  entrapping  deer.  When 
'the  shallop  was  fit  for  service,  34  men  embarked  in 
her,  and  in  the  long-boat,  on  an  excursion  to  explore 
the  shores  in  search  of  a  place  for  settlement.  They 
landed  at  the  mouth  of  Pamet  River,  in  Truro,  to  which 
they  gave  the  name  of  Cold  Harbor,  the  weather  being 
extremely  cold  and  stormy.  From  hence  they  march- 
ed several  miles  into  the  woods,  without  making  any 
satisfactory  discovery,  but  shot  two  geese  and  six  ducks, 
which  seived  them  well  for  supper.  In  their  travels 
they  found  sundry  sand  heaps,  under  which  they  found 
Indian  corn,  and  named  the  place  Corn  Hill.  They 
found  also  two  or  three  basketf  of  Indian  wheat,  a  bag 
of  beans,  and  a  bottle  of  oil.  From  this  store  they  took 
to  themselves  about  ten  bushels  of  corn  and  beans, 
which  afforded  them  essential  relief,  and  supplied  them 
with  seed  corn,  for  which  they  resolved  to  make  resti- 
tution. Having  marched  5  or  6  miles  into  the  woods, 
they  saw  neither  houses  nor  inhabitants,  but  came  to  a 
large  square,  having  the  appearance  of  a  capacious 
burial-place.  On  digging  in  the  ground,  they  met  with 
mats,  a  bow,  a  carved  boaid,  bowls,  trays,  dishes,  and 
trinkets.  Under  a  large  new  mat  were  iw^o  bundles  ; 
on  opening  the  largest,  was  discovered  a  quantity  of 
fine  red  powder,  in  which  was  enveloped  the  bones  and 
skull  of  a  man.  The  skull  was  covered  with  yellow 
hair,  and  there  were  bound  up  with  a  knife  a  pack- 
needle,  and  pieces  of  old  iron.  It  was  hound  up  in  a 
sailor's  canvas  cassock   and  a  pair  of  cloth  breeches. 


20  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1620 

The  red  powder  was  a  kind  of  embalment,  and  yielded 
a  strong  but  not  offensive  smell.  In  the  lesser  package 
was  the  same  kind  of  powder,  and  the  bones  and  head 
of  a  little  child  ;  about  the  legs  and  some  other  parts 
were  bound  strings  and  bracelets  of  fine  white  beads: 
there  were  also  a  little  bow  and  some  trinkets.  Whilst 
searching  in  the  woods,  two  of  the  sailors  discovered 
two  Indian  houses,  from  which  the  inhabitants  had 
lately  departed.  They  were  formed  with  long  young 
sapling  trees,  bended,  and  both  ends  stuck  into  the 
ground  and  covered,  tops  and  sides,  with  well-wrought 
mats.  Within  were  found  wooden  bowls,  trays,  and 
dishes,  earthen  pots,  hand-baskets  made  of  crab-shells 
wrought  together,  also  an  English  pail  or  bucket. 
Here  were  also  deers'  heads  and  horns,  deers'  feet, 
eagles'  claws,  two  or  three  baskets  full  of  parched 
acorns,  and  pieces  of  fish  and  herring. 

It  now  became  a  question  with  the  settlers  whether 
Cape  Cod  should  be  adopted  as  their  permanent  resi- 
dence, or  search  be  made  for  a  more  eligible  situation. 
In  their  deliberation  on  the  occasion,  different  opinions 
resulted.  In  favor  of  the  place,  it  was  alleged,  1. 
that  the  harbor  was  convenient  for  boats,  though  not 
for  ships  :  2.  there  was  good  corn  ground,  as  was  evi- 
dent by  the  remaining  stubble  :  3.  it  is  a  place  of  profit- 
able fishing  ;  large  whales  of  the  best  kind  for  oil  and 
bone,  came  daily  along  side  and  played  about  the  ship. 
The  master  and  his  mate,  and  others  experienced  in 
fishing,  preferred  it  to  Greenland  whale-fishery,  and  as- 
serted that  were  they  provided  with  the  proper  imple- 
ments £3,000  or  £4,000  worth  of  oil  might  be  obtained  : 
4.  the  place  was  likely  to  prove  healthiul,  secure  and 
defensible.  But  the  last  nnd  special  reason  was  the 
unfavorable  season,  being  the  middle  of  winter,  the 
weather  exceedingly  tempestuous,  cold  and  stormy, 
every  movement  attended  with  imminent  danger.  And 
whether  a  more  convenient  place  could  be  found,  was 
very  doubtful,  as  no  one  was  acquainted  with  the  coun" 


1620]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  21 

try.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  urged,  1.  that  the 
shore  was  so  shallow  that  the  men  were  obliged  to 
wade  in  water  over  their  knees  in  going  to  and  from 
their  shallop,  by  which  many  had  taken  colds  and 
coughs,  whereof  some  had  died  :  2.  there  was  a  place 
caJled  Agawam,  alias  Angawam,  (Ipswich,)  about  20 
leagues  to  the  northward,  which  had  been  reported  as 
an  excellent  harbor  for  ships,  better  soil,  and  better 
fishing  :  3.  there  might  be  at  no  great  distance  a  better 
seat,  and  it  would  be  unfortunate  to  locate  where  they 
should  be  obliged  to  remove  again  :  4.  there  was  a 
scarcity  of  water  there,  and  none  could  be  had  without 
bringing  it  up  a  steep  hill.  Besides,  Robert  Coppin, 
the  pilot,  affii med  that  there  was  a  navigable  river  and 
good  harbor  in  the  other  head-land  of  this  bay,  over 
against  Cape  Cod,  about  eight  leagues  distance,  where 
he  had  once  been,  and  where  a  native  having  stolen  a 
harping  iron  from  .them,  they  named  the  place  Thiev- 
ish Harbor.  It  was  at  length  resolved  to  endeavor 
to  make  some  further  discovery  within  the  bay,  but  not 
to  range  so  far  as  Agawam.  About  this  time  an  inci- 
dent occurred  which  might  have  been  attended  with 
fatal  consequences.  A  son  of  Francis  Billington  in  the 
absence  of  his  father,  having  procured  some  gun-pow- 
der, made  squibs  and  fired  them,  and  finding  his  father's 
fowling-piece  charged,  shot  her  off  in  the  crbin,  where 
there  was  a  small  barrel  iialf  full  of  powder,  and  many 
people  near  the  fire,  but  no  one  was  injured. 

On  Wednesday,  December  6th,  the  company  sailed 
on  a  third  excursion  for  discovery  ;  the  weather  was 
so  intensely  cold  that  the  water  froze  every  moment 
on  their  clothes,  and  two  of  the  men  were  greatly 
overcome.  On  their  approach  to  the  shore  at  East- 
ham,  they  discovered  iOor  12  Indians  engaged  in  cut- 
ting up  a  grampus,  but  they  soon  fled.  Two  other 
grampuses  were  dead  on  the  shore,  having  been  cast  on 
the  land  ;  the  fat  on  their  sides  was  two  inches  thick, 
affording  abundance  of  oil.     The  English  landed  oa 


22  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1620 

the  shore,  made  a  barricade,  planted  sentinels,  and 
took  lodw;ings  beside  a  fire,  and  saw  the  smoke  from  the 
Indian's  fire  4  or  5  miles  fi-om  them.  In  the  morning 
part  of  the  company  kept  in  the  shallop,  and  the  rest 
ranged  the  woods.  A  large  burial-place  was  'discover- 
ed, partly  encompassed  with  a  pallisado,  like  a  church- 
yard, and  filled  with  graves  of  various  sizes.  At  night 
they  took  their  lodgings  in  the  shallop,  and  at  about  mid- 
night hideous  cries  were  heard,  and  the  sentinel  called, 
arms  !  arms  !  but  by  firing  two  guns  the  noise  ceased. 
About  five  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  noises  were  renew- 
ed and  they  had  only  time  to  cry  out '  Indians !  Indians  ! ' 
when  the  arrows  came  flying  thick  about  them.  The 
English  ran  with  all  speed  to  receive  their  guns,  and  [n 
a  moment  bullets  were  exchanged  for  arrows,  but  no 
exchange  could  be  a  match  for  the  dreadful  Indian 
yells.  There  was  a  lusty  Indian,  supposed  to  be  their 
captain,  who  placed  himself  behind  a  tree,  discharged 
three  arrows,  and  stood  three  shots  from  a  ruu^ket,  till 
at  length  a  charge  struck  the  tree,  when  \>a'  gave  a 
horrid  yell,  and  fled.  Eighteen  of  their  an  .vs  w^ere 
taken  up  and  sent  to  their  friends  in  England,  by  mas- 
ter Jones,  of  the  Mayflower  ;  some  were  headed  with 
brass,  some  with  deer's  horns,  and  others  wiih  eagles' 
claws;  but  the  contest  ended  v^^ithout  bloodshed  on 
either  siile.  It  was  about  this  time  that  the  wife  of 
William  White  was  favored  with  the  birth  of  a  son, 
whom  they  named  Peregrine,  being  the  first  English 
child  born  in  New  England.* 

After  the  skirmish  with  the  Indians,  the  pilgrims  ren- 
dered thanks  to  God  for  their  preservation,  and  named 

*  William  White  Hied  in  the  ensuing:  Spring.  Ilis  widow,  Su- 
sannah, married  the  celebrated  Edward  Winslow,  who  was  the  third 
Goveinoi  of  the  colony;  this  marriasje  wa>  solemnized  IVIay  12th, 
1621,  and  was  the  first  mrrriaiie  in  New  England  ;  and  she  was  the 
mother  of  Peregrine  Whi'e,  tl  e  first  child  born  of  English  parents 
in  the  co'ony.  Peregrine  While  died  at  Marshfield,  July  2Uth,  1704, 
aged  83  years  ahd  8  Oionths. 


1620]  HISTORY    OP    PLYMOUTH.  S3 

the  place  the  First  Encounter.  In  the  afternoon  of  the 
same  day,  December  8lh,  the  shallop  departed  from  the 
cape  on  a  cruise  of  discovery,  vvitli  the  following  per- 
sons on  board  : — Governor  Carver,  Mr.  William  Brad- 
ford, *  Edward  Winslow,  Capt.  Miles  Stand'sh,  John 
Rowland,  Mr.  Warren,  Mr.  Hopkins,  Mr.  Edward  Tilly, 
Mr.  John  Tilly,  Mr.  Clark,  Jolin  Allerton,  Thomas  En- 
glish, and  Edward  Dotey,  together  with  Coppin,  the 
pilot,  the  master  gunner  of  the  ship,  and  three  of  the 
common  seamen,  making  eighteen  in  the  whole.  The 
pilot  assured  them  that  there  was  a  harbor  of  which  he 
had  some  knowledge,  which  they  could  reach  before 
night. f  They  were  in  the  afternoon  overtaken  by  a 
violent  storm,  the  wind  and  rain  increasing,  and  the  sea 
raging  with  rough  and  heavy  surges,  by  which  the 
hinges  of  their  rudder  were  broken,  and  they  were 
obliged  to  steer  the  shallop  by  oars  in  the  hands  of  two 
men  stationed  at  the  helm.  Not  long  after  in  their  se- 
vere struggle  their  mast  was  severed  into  three  pieces, 
and  the  sails  went  overboard.  In  passing  the  point 
called  the  Gurnet's  nose,  at  the  mouth  of  Plymouth  har- 
bor, the  pilot  finding  himself  deceived,  and  greatly 
alarmed,  exclaimed  '  Lord  be  merciful ! '  my  eyes  nev- 
er saw  this  place  before  ;  and  he  with  the  master's  mate 
would  have  run  the  boat  ashore  before  the  wind  in  a 
cove  among  breakers  ;  which  cove  is  between  the  Gur- 
net head  and  Saquish  point.  But  a  more  resolute  sea- 
man at  the  helm  making  uncommon  exertions,  and 
urging  the  oarsmen,  the  boat  was  with  difficulty  put 
about,  and  they  fortunately  reached  the  lee  of  a  small 
island,  in  the  midst  of  a  heavy  rain,  and  the  darkness 
of  night,  where  they  came  safe  to  anchor,  and  in  the 
night  they  landed  and  kindled  a  fire.    The  next  morning 

*  While  at  anchor  in  Cape  Cod  harbor,  on  December  7th,  Mrs. 
Dorothy  Bradford,  wife  of  iVJr.  William  Bradford,  accidentally  fell 
overboard  from  the  Mayflower,  and  was  drowned,  to  the  great  grief 
of  her  husband,  who  was  absent  in  the  shallop  at  the  time. 

t  It  is  not  improbable  that  the  pilot  had  visited  this  shore  with 
Capt.  Smith  or  Hunt,  in  1614. 


S^  HISTORY   OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1620 

ikey  found  that  the  island  was  uninhabited,  and  as  it  was 
the  last  day  of  the  week,  and  extremely  cold,  they  em- 
ployed themselves  in  dryitig  their  clothes,  cleaning 
their  arms,  and  repairing  their  shallop.  The  following 
day,  the  tenth,  being  the  christian  sabbath,  and  the  first 
ever  observed  in  New  England,  they  devoted  them- 
selves in  pious  gratitude  for  their  •  preservation  and 
safe  arrival.  As  Mr.  Clark,  the  master's  mate,  was  the 
first  to  land  on  the  island,  it  received  his  name,  which 
it  still  retains.^ 

On  Monday,  the  11th  day  of  December,  O.  S.  they 
proceeded  from  the  island  in  their  shallop,  to  sound 
and  examine  the  harbor,  and,  to  their  unspeakable  joy, 
found  it  commodious  and  '  fit  for  shipping.'  A  part  of 
their  number,  no  names  mentioned,  landed,  went  some 
distance  into  the  country,  and  examined  the  territory 
contiguous  to  the  shore,  where  they  found  cleared  land 
which  had  been  planted  with  Indian  corn,  two  or  three 
years  before,  and  a  beautiful  running  brook,  and  nu- 
merous springs  of  the  purest  water  were  discovered. 
Having  selected  this  as  the  most  eligible  situation  for  a 
permanent  settlement  yet  discovered,  they  re-embarked 
on  board  the  shallop  and  returned  to  the  ship,  at  Cape 
Cod,  announcing  to  the  anxious  pilgrims  the  joyful  ti- 
dings of  their  discoveries,  and  the  cheering  prospects 
which  Providence  had  opened  to  their  view.  This, 
then,  is  to  be  considered  as  the  first  stepping  on  the 
Rock  of  the  Pilgrims  from  the  shallop  belonging  to  the 
Mayflower,  and  this  is  the  birth  day  of  our  nation. 
The  day  which  has  been  annually  celebrated  in  com- 
memoration of  this  momentous  event,  the  landing  of 
the  forefathers,  is  the  twenty-second  of  December,  N. 
S.  which  has  hitherto  been  supposed  to  correspond 
with  the  eleventhj  O.  S  ;  but  to  reconcile  the  difference 
between  old   and  new  style  in  the  century  in  which 

■  See  a  tradition  respecting  this  when  describing  the  island,  lat- 
ter end  of  the  volume. 


1620]  HISTORY   OF    PLYMOUTH.  25 

they  arrived,  only  ten  days,  instead  of  eleven,  should 
be  added  to  their  computation,  which  would  make  the 
day  of  the  landing  correspond  to  the  twenty-first,  N.  S. 
If,  therefore,  it  be  desirable  to  celebrate  the  precise 
portion  of  time  corresponding  with  their  date,  as  it  un- 
doubtedly is,  the  twenty-first  and  not  the  twenty-second 
of  Decemher  should  be  commemorated  as  Forefathers 
Day.* 

*  The  day  of  the  landing  by  the  exploring  party  in  the  shallop 
was  Monday,  December  11th,  1620,  old  style.  This  is  established 
by  the  united  testimony  of  Morton's  Memorial,  Mourt's  Relation, 
and  Governor  Bradford's  MS.  History,  as  copied  by  Prince.  In  de- 
termining the  anniversary  of  that  day  for  any  year  whatever,  the 
question  occurs,  What  is  the  difference  between  O.  S.  and  N.  S. 
for  1620? 

By  order  of  Pope  Gregory  XIII.  in  1582,  ten  days  were  omitted 
in  the  Julian  calendar,  then  in  use,  and  the  5th  of  October  was  reck- 
oned the  15th.  This  was  done  for  the  following  reason.  The  Ju- 
lian calendar  proceeded  on  the  supposition  that  the  year  was  365 
days  and  6  hours ;  but  the  time  in  which  the  sun  performs  his  an- 
nual revolution  is  not  exactly  365  days  6  hours,  but  365  days  5  hours 
48  minutes  and  45^  seconds.  The  civil  year,  therefore,  exceeded 
the  solar  by  11  minutes  and  14^  seconds,  which  in  about  130  years 
amounted  to  a  whole  day,  i.  e.  the  true  equinox  would  precede  the 
civil  one  by  about  a  day  in  130  years.  In  the  year  1582,  this  an- 
ticipation of  the  equinox  had  amounted  to  ten  days,  so  that  the  vernal 
equinox  was  now  found  to  happen  on  the  11th  of  March  instead  of  the 
21st,  as  it  ought  to  have  done  if  the  Julian  calendar  had  agreed  with 
the  course  of  the  sun.  The  Pope,  therefore,  ordered  the  10  days  to 
be  suppressed ;  and,  to  preserve  the  accuracy  of  the  calendar  from 
that  time,  it  was  ordered  that  three  days  should  continue  to  be  drop- 
ped every  400  years,  which  was  nearly  equivalent  to  one  day  every 
130  years.  Instead,  however,  of  suppressing  a  day  every  130th 
year,  whether  common  or  leap  year,  it  was  thought  preferable  to 
make  the.  correction  in  leap  year  only,  thus  leaving  always  365  days 
at  least  in  the  year.  Now  in  the  former  method  of  reckoning,  every 
100th  year  was  a  leap,  year;  but  it  was  ordered  by  the  Pope,  that 
every  400th  year  only  should  be  considered  as  leap  year,  and  the 
other  centiu id  years  reckoned  as  common  years;  the  year  1600, 
however,  being  still  continued  as  leap  year.  By  making,  there- 
fore, the  years  1700,  ISOO,  and  1900  to  be  common  years,  instead  of 
leap  years,  as  they  Vvould  have  been  in  the  old  style,  the  error 
arising  from  the  odd  time  would  be  properly  corrected. 

The  difference,  then,  between  O.  S.  and  N.  S.  in  1582  was  ten 
days,  and  this  continued  to  be  the  difference  until  1700,  the  leap 
year  being  preserved  in  1600 ;  from  1700  to  1800,  it  was  eleven 
days,  because  1700  in  O.  S.  was  a  leap  year,  and  therefore,  another 

3 


26  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [162(1) 

Immediately  on  receiving  the  happy  intelligence,  the 
Mayflower  weighed  anchor,  and  proceeded  to  the 
newly  discovered  harbor,  where  she  anchored  in  safe- 
ty on  the  sixteenth  of  December,  O.  S.,  and  termina- 
ted her  perilous  voyage.  Four  of  the  passengers  had 
die'd  at  Cape  Cod.  The  weather  for  several  days 
continued  boisterous  and  intensely  cold. 

On  the  eighteenth  and  nineteenth  the  master  of  the 
ship,  Mr.  Jones,  and  three  or  four  sailors,  explored 
tlie  land  contiguous  to  the  harbor,  but  could  discover 
neither  houses  nor  inhabitants.  On  the  morning  of 
the  twentieth,  after  imploring  Heaven  for  guidance,  a 
consideible  number  landed  with  a  view  of  selecting  a 
location  for  settlement.  The  place  selected  was  the 
high  ground  on  the  bank   facing  the  bay,   where   the 


day  was  to  be  suppressed  ;  from  1800  to  1900,  twelve  days ;  from 
1900  to  2000,  thirteen  days  ;  and  irom  2000  to  2100,  still  thirteen 
days;  because  2000  is  a  leap  year  in  both  styles.  Of  course,  then, 
the  llth  of  December,  1620,  O.  S.  corresponds  to  the  21st  of  De- 
cember, N.  S. — the  year  1600  being  reckoned  as  a  leap  year,  and, 
therefore,  no  day  being  dropped  in  that  century.  Now  in  the  year 
17(j9,  when  the  Old  Colony  Club  fixed  upon  the  day  of  their  cel- 
ebration, the  difference  of  styles  had  become,   for  that -century, 

11  days,  because  the  year  1700  was,  as  above  stated,  reckoned  as  a 
common  year,  and  therefore,  an  additional  day  was  dropped.  For 
the  same  reason,  the  difference  of  styles  for  the  present  century  is 

12  days.  But  the  true  question  is  and  should  have  been  by  the 
Old  Colony  Club,  what  is  the  difference  of  styles  for  1620,  and  that 
is  the  true  difference  for  that  time,  and  continues  so  forever.—See 
Rees'  Cyclopedia,  articles  Calendar  and  Style. — Judge  Davis's  let- 
ter in  regard  to  the  settlement  of  Boston. — Judge  Davis's  commu- 
nication in  O.  C.  Memorial,  Sept.  A,  1830.     American  Almanac, 

Vol.  i.  (in  which,  however,  there  is  an  inaccuracy  in  stating  this 
matter.) 

The  above  calculation  is  corroborated  in  the  following  manner:. 
By  finding  the  Dominical  Letter  for  1620,  O.  S.  which  is  A,  it  ap- 
pears that  the  llth  of  December  that  year  fell  on  Monday,  conforrn- 
ably  to  our  historians.  By  finding  the  Dominical  Letter  for  1620, 
N.  S.  which  is  D,  it  appears  that  the  21st  of  December  for  that  year 
would  fall  also  on  Monday,  and  the  22d  on  Tuesday,  &c. — See  the 
table  in  American  Almanac,  Vol.  iii.  p.  72. 

There  can  be  no  doubt,  therefore,  that  the  21st  of  December,  in 
any  year,  is  the  day  corresponding  to  the  llth  of  December,  1620, 0. 
S.  and  is  the  true  day  of  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims  at  Plymoutlu 


1620]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  27 

J^  land  had  been  cleared,  and  corn  planted  by  the  na- 
"  tives  a  few  years  before.  Here  were  numerous  springs 
of  the  purest  water,  and  a  brook  emptying  its  current 
into  the  harbor.  Here  also  was  a  high  hill  well  situa- 
ted for  a  fortification  to  command  the  surrounding 
country,  and  affording  a  fine  prospect  across  the  bay. 
A  violent  storm  arose  at  night,  and  the  weather  con- 
tinued so  tempestuous  fof  two  or  three  days,  that  these 
people  were  unable  to  return  on  board,  and  remained 
on  shore  without  shelter.  On  Saturday,  the  twenty- 
third,  another  party  bid  adieu  to  the  Mayflower,  went 
on  shore,  and  began  to  fell  and  carry  timber,  and  make 
preparations  for  the  construction  of  their  house  of  com- 
mon rendezvous.  On  the  twenty-fourth,  (Sabbath) 
the  people  on  shore  were  alarmed,  by  the  cry  of  Indi- 
ans, from  whom  an  attack  was  expected,  but  it  proved 
a  false  alarm.  The  pilgrims  were  now  about  to  change 
the  perils  of  the  ocean,  not  for  a  friendly,  hospitable 
shore — not  to  receive  the  fond  embrace  of  affectionate 
relatives  and  friends,  but  to  encounter  the  storms  of 
winter  in  an  unexplored  wilderness,  and  to  listen  to  the 
appalling  }  ells  of  the  savages.*  But  it  was  their  con- 
solation that  they  had  disenthralled  themselves  from 
religious  tyranny  and  persecution,  and  found  an  asy- 
lum of  religious  liberty  and  civil  freedom  for  themselves 
and  posterity.  From  the  reports  of  those  who  had 
been  on  shore,  they  painted  to  their  sanguine  imagina- 
tion a  capacious  harbor  and  bay  containing  two  islands^ 
abounding  in  wild  fowl,  fish  of  various  kinds,  and  a 
good  growth  of  timber  on  shore.     On   Monday,  the 

*  Had  the  month  of  December,  1620,  been  as  inclement  as  the 
present  December,  1831,  when  our  harbor  and  shores  on  all  sides 
are  a  body  of  ice,  and  the  thermometer  below  zero,  those  whom  we 
honor  and  revere  as  our  fathers  and  mothers,  must  have  fallen  a 
sacrifice  to  the  season.  But  their  courage  and  fortitude  were  un- 
doubtedly supported  by  the  reflection,  that  when  God  decrees  some 
momentous  event,  his  instruments  are  prepared,  and  will  be  pre- 
served;  as  were  Joseph,  Moses  and  Joshua,  and  we  may  add,  CO" 
luinbus  and  VVashiugton. 


28  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1620 

twenty-fifth,  they  began  their  common  house,  which 
was  twenty  feet  square,  for  rendezvous  and  for  stores  ; 
no  man  was  suffered  to  remain  idle,  although  many  of 
them,  from  a  long  voyage,  were  affected  with  scurvy, 
and  others,  from  uncommon  exposure  to  storms  of 
snow  and  rain,  were  suffering  under  severe  indisposi- 
tion. Such  was  their  industry,  that  in  four  days  one 
half  of  their  store  house  was  thatched.*  It  was  one  of 
their  first  objects  to  provide  for  their  security  by  a 
platform  for  their  ordnance,  which  they  begun  on  the 
twenty-eighth,  on  a  high  hill.  On  the  same  day  they 
divided  their  whole  company  into  nineteen  families, 
that  fewer  houses  might  suffice,  and  measured  out  the 
ground,  assigning  to  every  person  by  lot  half  a  pole  in 
breadth  and  three  poles  in  length,  for  house  lot  and 
garden.  It  was  stipulated  that  every  man  should  build 
his  own  house,  but  the  whole  to  be  built  in  two  rows, 
and  compact,  for  greater  security  against  the  Indians. 
The  inclemency  of  the  weather  and  their  own  feeble 
health  were  essential  impediments  to  their  progress  in 
erecting  their  houses,  and  many  families  were  detained 
on  board  the  ship  till  shelter  could  be  provided  on 
shore. 

December  31 5^,  Lord^s  day.  Although  most  of  the 
company  were  on  board  the  ship,  almost  a  mile  and  half 
from  shore,  yet  those  who  had  landed  kept  the  sabbath 
for  the  first  time  in  their  new  house.  '  Here,  there- 
fore, is  fixed  the  era  of  their  settlement,  which  in  grate- 
ful remembrance  of  the  christian  friends,  whom  they 
left  in  the  last  town  which  they  visited  in  their  native 
country,  they  called  JVew  Plymouth.  This  was  the 
foundation  of  the  first  English  town  built  in  New  Eng- 
land.'— Holmes^ s  Ann. 

Place  of  their  location. — The  place  in  which  the  set- 
tlers first  located  themselves  for  a  town,  is  the  whole  ex- 

*  In  the  year  ISOl,  in. digging  a  cellar,  sundry  tools  and  a  plate 
cf  iron  were  discovered  seven  feet  under  the  surface  of  the  earth, 
on  the  spot  where  tradition  places  the  common  house,  which  is  on 
the  south  side  of  Ley  den  street,  near  the  declivity  of  the  hill. 


1-620]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  29 

tent  of  our  Leyden  street  and  its  environs.  This  street 
was  laid  out  by  them  when  planning  the  town,  and  ex- 
tends from  the  town  square  in  a  gradual  descent  to  the 
shore,  and  terminates  a  little  distance  south  from  the 
memorable  rock.  During  the  first  winter,  the  settlers 
buried  their  dead  on  the  banks  of  the  shore  near  their 
own  dwellings,  since  called  CoWs  Hill,  taking  especial 
care  to  level  the  earth,  to  conceal  from  the  Indians  the 
number  and  frequency  of  deaths.  Dr.  Holmes  men- 
tions a  tradition  that  the  graves  at  that  spot,  after  the 
great  mortality  in  the  first  stage  of  the  settlement,  were 
levelled  and  sown,  to  conceal  the  extent  of  their  loss 
from  the  natives.  An  aged  gentleman,  Hon.  Ephraim 
Spooner,  since  deceased,  who  gave  this  information  to 
Dr.  Holmes,  received  it  from  Elder  Faunce,  who  died 
1745,  in  the  99th  year  of  his  age,  and  who  was  well 
acquainted  with  some  of  the  first  settlers.  Hon.  Judge 
Davis  relates  that  he  has  often  had  similar  information 
from  an  aged  lady,  Mrs.  White,  who  died  at  Plymouth, 
a  few  years  since,  and  who  in  early  life  was  familiar  in 
the  family  of  Elder  Faunce.  It  has  always  been  su))- 
posed  that  the  remains  of  Governor  Carver  were  de- 
posited on  Cole's  Hill,  and  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  no 
stone  was  erected  to  designate  the.  spot. 

On  reviewing  the  place  where  the  puritan  fathers 
first  erected  their  rude  comfortless  huts,  and  where 
Carver  and  half  of  his  associates  closed  their  mortal 
career  during  the  first  winter,  surely  enthusiasm  enough 
will  never  be  wanting  to  consecrate  the  ground  with 
tears,  and  to  proclaim  its  sacredness  to  future  genera- 
tions. It  is  the  ground,  where,  unshielded  from  the 
rigors  of  a  boisterous  season,  our  ancestors  were  com- 
pelled to  erect  citadels  of  defence  against  the  attacks  of 
cru.el  savages,  while  their  hearts  were  pierced  with  the 
keenest  anguish  by  the  arrows  of  death  depriving  them 
of  rulers,  parents,  liusbands  and  children  ! 

The  Rock.     The  identical  rock,  on  which  the  sea- 
wearied  Pilgrims  first  leaped  from  the  shallop  coming 
3* 


30  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1620 

from    the   Mayflower,  has   never  been  a    subject    of 
doubtful  designation.     The  fact  was  transmitted  from 
father   to  son,    particularly  in   the   instance  of  Elder 
Faunce,  as  would  be  transmitted  the  richest  inheritance, 
by  .unquestionable  tradition.     About  the  year  1741,  it 
was  represented  to  Elder  Faunce  that  a  wharf  was  to 
be  erected  over   the  rock,   which   impressed  his  mind 
with  deep  concern,  and  excited  a  strong  desire  to  take 
a  last  farewell  of  the  cherished  object.     He  was  then 
ninety-five  years  old,  and  resided  three  miles  from  the 
place.     A  chair  was  procured,  and  the  venerable  man 
conveyed  to  the  shore,  where  a  number  of  the  inhabit- 
ants were  assembled  to  witness  the  patriarch's  bene- 
diction.    Having   pointed  out  the  rock  directly  under 
the  bank  of  Cole's  Hill,  which  his  father  had  assured 
him  was  that  which  had  received  the  footsteps  of  our 
fathers  on  their  first  arrival,  and  which  should  be  per- 
petuated to  posterity,  he  bedewed  it  with  his  tears  and 
bid  to  it  an  everlasting  adieu.     These  facts  were  tes- 
tified to  by  the  late  venerable  Deacon  Spooner,  who 
at  the  age  of  fifteen  years,  was  present  on  the  interest- 
ing occasion.    Standing  on  this  rock,  therefore,  we  may 
fancy  a  magic  power  ushering,  us  into  the  presence  of 
our  fathers.     The  hallowed  associations  which  cluster 
around  that  precious  memorial,  inspires  sentiments  of 
love  of  country,  and  a  sacred  reverence  for  its  primitive 
institutions.     In   contemplation,  we  may  hold  commu- 
nion with  celestial  spirits,  and  receive  monitions  from 
those  who  are  at  rest  in   their  graves.     What  honors 
shall  we  pay  to  the  fathers  of  our  country,  the  found- 
ers of  that  empire,   which  through   ages  shall  remain 
the  rich  abode  of  knowledge,   religion,   freedom,  and 
virtue  !     Criminal,  indeed,  would   be   our  case  were 
we  not  to   cherish   a  religious    sense   of  the   exalted 
privileges  inherited  from  our  pious  ancestors^  and  re- 
solve  to   transmit   them   unimpaired  to   our  children. 
Where  is  the  New  Englander  that  would  be  willing  to 
have  that  rock  buried  out  of  sight  and  forgotten } 


^01620]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  ^ 


*  The  man  that  is  not  mov'd  with  what  he  retad?,, 
That  takes  not  fire  at  their  heroic  deeds. 
Unworthy  of  the  blessings  of  the  brave, 
Is  base  in  kind,  and  born  to  be  a  slave'         Cowper. 

Common  tradition  renders  the  point  doubtful,  wheth- 
r  Mary  Chilton,  or  John  Alden,  have  the  best  claim 
o  the  honor  of  being  the  first  who  leaped  on  the  rock, 
md  gained  possession  of  New  England  ground.     No 
nvestigation  can  now   decide  the  claim,  be  it*more  or 
ess    important    to   those    concerned.     The    name  of 
fohn  Alden  is  not   included  in  the  list  of  those   who 
anded  from  the  shallop  on  the  eleventh  of  December, 
md  it  is  not  supposable  that  a  lady  would  subject  her- 
elf  to  such  hazard  and  inconvenience  5  besides,  such 
m  exploit  in  a  female   must   have  been  considered  as 
[ieserving  particular  record  at  the  time.     The  tradition 
jvhich  renders  the  fact  questionable  must  have  had  ref- 
erence to  the  boats  which  landed  with  the  families  af- 
er  the  Mayflower  arrived  in  Plymouth  harbor.     The 
point  of  precedence  must  however  remain  undecided, 
dnce  the   closest  investigation  discloses  no  authority 
for  the  tradition,  nor  a  shadow  of  evidence  in  favor  of 
ny  individual  as  being  the  first  who  landed.  *     In  the 
ear  1774,  when  liberty,  and  the  rights  of  man  were 

*  'Among  those  who  came  in  the  Mayflower,  were  Richard 
IJChilton,  (who  died  the  first  winter)  Mary  and  Susanna  Chilton. 
IJMary  it  is  said,  married  John  Winolow,  and  Susanna  Mr.  Latham. 
(The  descendants  of  Mr.  Winsh)w  are  in  Boston,  and  Mr.  Latham  in 

Bridgewater.  The  tradition  we  have  reason  to  believe  is  in  both 
families.  We  are  disposed,  liowever,  to  generalize  the  anecdote. 
The  first  generation,  doubtless,  knew  who  came  on  shore  in  the 
first  boats  ;  the  second  generation  related  it  with  less  identity  ;  the 
third  and  fourth  with  still  less  ;  like  the  stone  thrown  info  the  calm 
lake,  the  circles,  well  defined  at  first,  become  fainter  as  they  re- 
cede. For  the  purposes  of  the  arts,  however,  a  female  figure,  typi- 
cal of  faith,  hope,  and  charity,  is  well  adapted.' — His.  Col.  vol.  3, 
series  2,  p.  174.  By  Samuel  Davis. 

*  As  there  is  a  great  degree  of  uncertainty  on  this  subject,  it  is 
not  only  graieful,  but  allowable,  to  indulge  the  imagination,  and  we 
expect  from  the  friends  of  John  Alden,  that  they  should  give  place 

I  to  the  lady.' — Judge  Davis's  Edit.  Morton's  Memorial. 


32  HISTORY   OF   PLYMOUTH.  [1620 

the  popular  themes,  it  was  determined  to  remove  the 
hallowed  rock  from  its  original  bed  to  the  town  square 
near  the  church  and  court  house,  that  it  might  be'  lo- 
cated beside  the  liberty  pole.  [This  will  be  further 
noticed  in  this  work  under  date  of  1774.] 

January  \st,  1621. — About  this  date  Francis  Billing- 
ton,  having  mounted  the  top  of  a  tree  on  a  high  hill,  dis- 
covered.at  a  distance,  as  he  supposed,  another  great 
sea,  and  on  the  eighth  of  December  went  with  one  of 
the  master's  mates  to  take  a  view  of  the  place.  They 
found  the  water  divided  into  two  lakes,  the  larger  five 
or  six  miles  compass,  the  smaller  three  miles. 

January  [2th. — Two  of  the  settlers,  John  Goodman 
and  Peter  Brown,  being  abroad  gathering  thatch,  came 
to  a  lake  of  water,  (probably  our  Murdock's  pond)  near  ^ 
which  they  discovered  a  fine  large  deer  ;  their  two  dogs  ?' 
chased  the  animal,  and  the  men  followed  till  they  were 
lost,  and  could  not  find  their  way  back.  They  wan- 
dered till  night,  being  lightly  clad  and  without  weapons 
or  food,  amidst  frost  and  snow  ;  they  were  obliged  to  j 
make  the  cold  earth  their  bed,  and  the  clouds  their 
covering.  In  the  night  they  were  greatly  alarmed  by 
noises  which  they  supposed  to  be  the  roaring  of  lions. 
In  their  fright  they  mounted  a  tree  for  safety,  which 
they  found  to  be  an  intolerable  cold  lodging,  and  they 
sometimes  walked  under  the  tree  in  readiness  to  climb, 
holding  their  bitch  by  the  neck,  lest  she  should  rush  into 
the  lions'  paws.  But  fortunately  the  lions  came  not, 
and  at  early  dawn  they  renewed  their  wandering,  which 
they  continued  through  the  day.  At  night  they  reach- 
ed the  setdement  almost  famished  with  cold  and  hunger, 
and  having  mistaken  the  howling  of  wolves  for  the 
roaring  of  lions. 

Their  friends  at  the  settlement,  being  greatly 
alarmed  on  account  of  their  absence,  sent  out  ten  or 
twelve  armed  men,  who  traversed  the  woods  all  day  in 
vain,  and  returned  with  strong  apprehensions  that  they 
were  taken  by  tHe  Indians.     It  was  not  long  after  the 


1621]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  83 

arrival  of  the  planters,  that  the  natives  assembled  all 
their  pawaws  in  a  dark  swamp,  to  curse  the  new  comers  ; 
for  three  days  they  continued  their  horrid  incantation, 
and  consigned  the  English  to  utter  destruction.  It  is 
to  be  regretted  that  we  cannot  ascertain  the  spot  where 
this  swamp  was  located,  nor  the  particular  tribe  that 
were  the  actors  in  this  diabolical  business. 

January  iAth. — The  settlers  had  the  rnisfortune  of 
their  common  house  taking  fire,  from  a  spark  falling 
among  the  dry  thatch,  and  it  was  entirely  consumed. 
It  was  remarkable  that  at  the  moment  of  this  disaster, 
Governor  Carver,  and  Mr.  William  Bradford  were  sick 
in  their  beds,  the  floor  of  the  house  was  covered  with 
beds  and  bedding,  muskets  were  loaded,  and  a  quantity 
of  powder  was  stored  within,  yet  little  damage  was  sus- 
tained. The  people  on  board  the  ship,  seeing  the  fire, 
and  unable  to  come  on  shore  by  reason  of  low  tide  and 
very  tempestuous  weather,  were  under  painful  appre- 
hensions that,  the  savages  had  attacked  them.  Being 
Sunday,  and  the  major  part  of  the  people  on  shore,  they 
performed  public  worship  in  their  settlement. 

January  I9th. — John  Goodman,  who  had  been  lost  in 
the  woods,  took  it  into  his  head  again  to  ramble  into 
the  woods ;  having  a  spaniel  with  him,  it  was  soon 
attacked  by  two  wolves.  The  dog  flew  to  the  legs  of 
his  master  for  safety,  and  he  having  no  weapon,  snatch- 
ed a  stick  for  defence  ;  the  wolves  sat  some  time  on  their 
tails,  grinning  and  snarling  at  the  affrighted  man,  but  at 
length  suffered  him  to  escape. 

The  wife  of  Capt.  Standish,  and  some  others  of  their 
number,  died  this  month.    . 

February. — Twelve  Indians  were  discovered  in  the 
woods,  but  no  interview  could' be  had  with  them.  A 
general  meeting  was  called  to  establish  some  military 
arrangements,  and  Miles  Standish. was  chosen  Captain, 
and  vested  with  command  accordingly.  During  the 
meeting,  two  Indians  presented  themselves  on  the  top 
of  the  hill,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  brook,  and  made 


I 


34  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1621 

signs  for  the  English  to  come  to  them,  but  on  the  ap- 
proach of  Captain  Standish  and  Mr.  Hopkins,  they  fled 
from  them. 

21s^.-Capt.  Jones,  of  the  Mayflower,  brought  on  shore 
one  of  the  great  pieces  of  cannon,  called  a  minion,  and  [ 
he  and  his  sailors  assisted  them  to  drag  that,  and  an- 
other piece,  up  the  hill,  with  three  small  pieces,  which 
they  mounted  for  defence. 

The  settlers  suffered  extremely  this  month  by  sick- 
ness and  death  :  no  less  than  seventeen  of  their  number 
died  during  the  month  ;  and  the  sick  were  destitute  of 
almost  all  the  comforts  which  their  miserable  condition 
rendered  indispensable.  Their  sufferings  were  increas- 
ed by  the  want  of  well  persons  to  perform  the  duties 
among  the  sick,  there  being,  at  one  lime,  not  more  than 
six  or  seven  in  tolerable  health.  But  it  is  recorded, 
that  Standish  and  Brewster  manifested  the  tenderest 
concern,  and  devoted  themselves,  with  unwearied  assi- 
duity, to  the  relief  and  comfort  of  their  suffering  breth- 
ren, not  declining  the- meanest  office. 

March  Sd.—The  weather  was  fair  and  warm,  and  the^ 
planters  were  delighted  to  hear  the  singing  of  Ameri- 
can birds  in  the  woods. 

16th. — Much  surprise  was  excited  by  the  appearance- 
of  an  Indian  who  boldly  walked  to  the  rendezvous,  and 
saluted  cheeringly  in  broken  English  '  Welcome  English- 
men,  welcome   Englishmen.'     This  was   Samoset,   a 
Sagamore,  who  had  come  from  Monhigan,  (District  ofi; 
Maine,)  where  he  had  learned  something  of  the  En-j 
glish  'tongue   from  the  Captains  of  the  fishing  vessels] 
on  that  shore,   and  he  knew   by  name  most  of  those! 
commanders.     This  was  the  first  savage  with  whom  thai 
whites  had  obtained  an  interview.     No  incident  couldi 
have  diffused  greater  joy  into  the  hearts  of  the  discon- 
solate and  the  infirm;  it  seemed  like  an  angelic  herald 
to  the  sick  and  dying.     Samoset  discoursed  as  though 
he  possessed  a  general   knowledge  of  the  whole  sur-e- 
rounding  country,  and  the  numbers  and  strength  of  ih© 


L^ 


1621]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  35 

several  tribes.  He  said  that  the  place  they  now  occu- 
py is  called  Patuxet,  and  that  about  four  years  ago  all 
the  natives  died  of  an  extraordinary  plague  ;  that  there 
was  neither  man,  woman,  nor  child  remaining  in  the 
territory,  of  which  the  English  had  now  possessed  them- 
selves. He  was  a  tall,  erect  man,  and  had  a  bow  and 
two  arrows.  The  English  treated  him  with  their  best 
food  and  drink ;  and  as  lie  was  inclined  to  tarry  all  night, 
they  provided  him  a  lodging  and  watched  his  move- 
ments. The  next  day  he  returned  to  a  neighboring 
tribe,  from  whence  he  said  he  last  came.  The  Nausets 
he  represented  as  being  highly  incensed  and  provoked 
against  the  English,  three  of  whom  were,  about  eight 
months  ago,  slain  by  the  Nausets.  Their  enmity  was 
caused  by  one  Hunt,  a  master  of  a  ship  who  a  few 
years  ago  deceived  the  natives,  and,  under  pretence 
of  trading  with  them,  got  twenty  of  the  people  of  this 
very  place,  Patuxet,  and  seven  from  the  Nausets,  oa 
board  his  ship,  and  carried  them  off  and  sold  them  for 
slaves,  for  twenty  pounds  a  head. 

On  his  departure,  the  English  gave  him  a  knife, 
a  bracelet,  and  a  ring  ;  and  he  promised  to  return 
soon  and  bring  other  natives  with  him,  with  such 
beaver  skins  as  they  could  collect.  Not  many  days 
after,  being  Sunday,  Samoset  returned  with  five  tall 
savages,  dressed  in  deer  skins,  and  the  principal  had 
a  wild-cat's  skin  on  one  arm,  their  hair  cut  short 
before,  but  long  to  their  shoulders  behind,  and  orna- 
mented with  feathers  and  fox  tails.  Their  faces  were 
painted  in  various  colors  and  figures.  They  left  their 
bows  and  arrows  at  some  distance  from  the  setde- 
ment,  according  to  the  charge  given  by  the  English  to 
Samoset.  They  made  signs  of  amity  and  friendship, 
and  entertained  the  English  with  their  dancing  and 
singing,  and  they  in  return  gave  them  a  suitable  enter- 
tainment. They  brought  with  them  some  corn,  parch- 
ed and  reduced  to  a  fine  powder,  called  no-cake,  which 
they  eat  mixed  with  water ;  and  they  had  a  litde  tobacco 


36  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [16211 

in  a  bag,  of  which  they  drank  *  frequently.  Theyji 
brought  with  them,  also,  all  the  tools  belonging  to  thei 
English,  which  had  been  taken  when  left  in  the  woods. 
They  offered  a  few  skins  to  trade,  but,  being  Sunday, 
the  English  dismissed  them  soon,  desiring  them  to  re- 
turn with  more  skins,  which  they  promised.  But 
Samoset  either  was  sick,  or  feigned  himself  so,  and 
would  tarry  till  the  next  Wednesday,  when  the  English 
gave  him  a  hat,  a  pair  of  stockings  and  shoes,  shirt,  &ic; 
and  sent  him  to  inquire  why  his  friends  did  not  return* 
Thursday,  April  2t^.^-Samoset  arrived  bringing  with 
him  Squanto,  alias  Tisquantum,  the  only  surviving  na-* 
tive  of  Patuxet,  who  was  one  of  the  twenty  captives 
carried  away  by  the  infamous  Hunt :  he  had  been  in 
England,  and  could  speak  a  little  English.  Three 
others  came  with  him,  and  brought  a  few  skins  to  truck 
and  some  red  herring,  newly  taken  and  dried,  but  not 
salted.  They  informed,  that  their  great  Sagamore,  M as- 
sasoit,  was  approaching,  with  Quadequina,  his  brother, , 
and  all  their  tribe,  and,  within  an  hour,  the  king  ap- 
peared on  the  top  of  a  hill  opposite,  and  had  in  his 
train  sixty  men,  which  he  displayed  to  view.  This  hill  1 
is  on  the  south  side  of  Town  brook,  and  is  called  Wat-  ■ 
son's  hill,  but  the  brook,  where  they  forded,  is  now"' 
covered  with  an  arch  stone  bridge.  Both  parties  be- 
ing unwilHng  to  advance,  Squanto  went  over  to  Mas- 
sasoit  and  returned  with  the  message,  that  he  desired 
peace  and  a  trade  with  the  English.  The  governor 
then  sent  Mr.  Edward  Winslow,  with  a  pair  of  knives 
and  a  copper  chain  with  a  jewel  in  it,  for  the  king,  and 
for  Quadequina  a  knife  and  a  jewel  to  hang  in  his  ear, 
and  a  pot  of  strong  water,  a  quantity  of  biscuit,  and 
sottie  butter,  all  which  were  wellreceived.  Mr.  Wins 
low  addressed  Massasoit  in  the  name  of  king  James,  as- 
suring him,  that  the  king  saluted  him  with  words  of  love 


*  The  term  drinking  tobacco  is  frequently  used  in  the 
probably  means  using  tobacco  by  smoking. 


records ; 


1621]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  37 

and  peace,  and  did  accept  of  him  as  his  friend  and  al- 
ly ;  and  that  the  governor  desired  to  see  him,  and  to 
confirm  a  trade  and  peace  with  him  as  his  next  neigh- 
bor. Massasoit  was  well  pleased  with  the  speech^  and 
after  eating  and  drinking,  he  gave  the  remains  to  his 
people.  He  looked  on  Mr.  Winslow's  sword  and  armor 
with  a  desire  to  buy  it,  but  he  refused  to  gratify  him. 
Massasoit  now  left  Mr.  VVinslow  in  the  custody  of 
Quadequina,  his  brother,  and  came  over  the  brook, 
with  twenty  men,  leaving  all  their  bows  and  arrows  be- 
hind them.  Captain  Standish  and  Mr.  Williamson 
with  six  musketeers,  met  the  king  at  the  brook,  and  each 
party  saluted  the  other,  when  the  king  was  conducted 
to  a  house  then  in  building,  where  were  placed  a  green 
rug  and  three  or  four  cushions.  Governor  Carver  now 
appeared  with  a  drum  and  trumpet,  with  a  few  musket- 
eers. After  salutations,  the  governor  kissed  the  king's 
hand,  who,  in  return,  kissed  him,  and  they  seated  them- 
selves ;  but  the  king  all  the  time  trembled  for  fear. 
The  governor  called  for  some  strong  water  and  drank 
to  him,  and  he  drank  a  copious  draught,  which  made 
him  sweat  a  long  time  after.  Massasoit  and  his  people 
having  partook  of  some  fresh  meat,  the  following  terms 
of  peace  were  mutually  agreed  to  : — 

1.  That  neither  he,  nor  any  of  his,  should  injure, 
or  do  hurt,  to  any  of  the  English. 

2.  If  any  of  his  did  hurt  to  any  of  ours,  he  should 
send  the  offender,  that  we  might  punish  him. 

3.  That  if  any  of  our  tools  were  taken  away,  when 
our  people  were  at  work,  he  should  cause  them  to 
be  restored  ;  and  if  ours  did  harm  to  any  of  his,  we 
w^ould  do  the  like  to  them. 

4.  If  any  did  unjustly  war  against  him,  we  would 
aid  hirn  ;  if  any  did  war  against  us,  he  sfrould  aid  us. 

5.  He  should  send  to  his  neighbor  confederates,  to 
certify  them  of  this,  that  they  might  not  wrong  us,  but 
might  be  likewise  comprised  in  the  conditions  of 
peace. 

4 


38  HISTORY    OF    PLYxMOUTH.  [1621 

6.  That  when  their  men  came,  they  shoulJ  leave 
their  bows  and  arrows  behind  them,  as  we  should  do  our 
pieces  when  we  came  to  them. 

Lastly,  that  doing  thus,  king  James  would  esteem 
him  as  his  friend  and  ally.*  The  above  treaty  was  pleas- 
ing to  the  Sachem,  and  approved  by  his  people. f  In 
his  person  the  king  was  a  lusty,  able-bodied  man,  and 
grave  in  his  countenance.  His  attire  differed  little 
from  that  of  his  people,  except  a  great  chain  of  white 
bone  beads  about  his  neck.  His  face  was  painted  with 
a  dull  red,  like  murray,  and  oiled,  both  head  and  face, 
so  that  he  looked  greasily.  He  had  in  his  bosom, 
hanging  in  a  string,  a  large  long  knife  :  he  marvelled 
much  at  the  trumpet,  and  made  some  attempts  to  sound 
it.  All  his  followers  were  painted  of  divers  colors  ; 
some  were  clothed  with  skins,  and  some  were  naked. 
Samoset  and  Squanto  tarried  all  night  with  the  English, 
and  the  king  and  his  people,  ^^ith  their  wives  and  chil- 
dren, spent  the  night  in  the  adjacent  w^oods.  They  said 
that  within  eight  or  nine  days  they  would  come  and  set 
corn  on  the  other  side  of  the  brook,  and  dwell  there  ail 
summer.  That  night  the  English  kept  a  good  watch, 
but  no  danger  occurred  ;  and  the  next  morning  several 
of  the  savages  visited  the  English,  with  the  hope,  as 
supposed,  of  obtaining  some  food.  Some  of  them  said 
the  king  wished  some  of  the  English  to  come  and  see 

*  '  The  new  Plymouth  associate?,  by  the  favor  of  the  Almighty, 
began  the  colony  in  New  England,  at  a  place  called  by  the  natives, 
Apaum,  alias  Patuxet ;  all  the  I  uids  being  void  of  inhabitants,  we 
the  said  John  Carver,  William  Bradford,  Edward  Winslow,  William 
Brewster,  Isaac  Allorton.  and  the  rest  of  our  associates,  enterinoj into 
a  league  of  peace  with  Massa^oit,  since  called  Woosamequin,  Prir.ce 
or  Sachem  of  those  parts  :  he,  the  said  Massasoit,  freely  gave  them 
all  the  lands  adjacent  to  theni,  and  their  heirs  forever.'  ['  Preface 
to  Plymou  h  laws,  declaring  the  warrantable  orounds  and  proceed- 
ing of  the  governnient  of  New  Plymouth.'] — Holmes's  Annals. 

t  '  This  treaty,  the  work  of  one  day,  being  horestly  intended  on 
both  sides,  was  kept  with  fidelity  as  long  as  Massasoit  lived,  but 
was  afterwards  (in  1675)  broken  by  Philip,  his  successor.' — Bel- 
knap's Biography. 


1621]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  39 

him.  Captain  Standish 'and  Isaac  Allerton  went  ven- 
turously, and  were  welcomed,  and  presented  with 
three  or  four  ground-nuts  and  some  tobacco.  Massa- 
soit,  being  at  war  with  a  potent  adversary,  the  Narra- 
gansets,  manifested  every  disposition  to  be  at  peace  and 
friendship  with  the  English,  whose  fire-arms  were  a 
great  terror  to  his  enemies. 

At  a  meeting  in  April,  on  common  business,  Mr.  Car- 
ver was  confirmed  in  the  office  of  governor  for  one 
year. 

The  Mayflower  was  detained  a  considerable  time, 
in  consequence  of  sickness  and  deaths  among  the  sea- 
men, more  than  one  half  of  their  number  having  died 
during  the  winter ;  and  Mr.  Jones,  the  master,  was  un- 
willing to  commence  his  return  voyage  until  the  survivors 
had  recovered  their  heahh.  He  sailed  on  the  5th  of 
April,  and  arrived  in  England  on  the  6ih  of  May. 
Not  one  of  the  settlers  expressed  a  desire  to  return  to 
iheir  native  country,  but  all  remained  true  to  their  pledge 
to  their  brethren  whom  they  left  in  Leyden,  and  made 
every  possible  exertion  to  prepare  comfortable  accom- 
modations for  their  rece-ption. 

The  first  offence  committed  and  punished  since  the 
arrival  of  the  colonists,  was  in  the  person  of  John  Bil- 
lington,  who  shipped  on  board  at  London,  and  was  not 
of  the  company.  He  was  charged  with  contetnpt  of 
the  captain's  lawful  commands,  and  of  opprobrious 
speeches.  He  was  tried  by  the  whole  company,  and 
sentenced  to  have  his  neck  and  heels  tied  together  ;  but, 
on  humbling  himself  and  craving  pardon,  and  It  being 
his  first  offence,  he  was  released  from  his  painful  situ- 
ation before  the  time  had  expired.  In  the  spring  of 
this  year,  the  colonists  planted  20  acres  \Vith  Indian 
corn,  being  the  first  planted  in  New  England,  of  which 
they  had  a  good  crop.  They  were  instructed  in  the 
manner  of  planting;  by  Sqnanto  ;  but  they  were  un- 
successful in  their  first  trial  with  English  grain,  by  rea- 
son, as  supposed,  of  the  lateness  of  the  season,  and  bad 
quality  of  the  seed. 


40  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1621 

In  the  month  of  April  this  year,  governor  Carver 
was  taken  sick  in  the  field,  while  engaged  in  planting, 
and  died  in  a  few  days.  His  death  was  extremely  af- 
flictive, and  was  universally  lamented.  He  was  one  of 
their  wisest  counsellors,  and  most  indefatigable  labor- 
ers. His  remains  were  consigned  to  the  earth,  with  all 
the  affectionate  solemnity  which  circumstances,  at  the 
lime,  would  admit,  and  with  the  discharge  of  all  their 
fire-arms.  Many  able  pens  have  been  employed  in 
portraying  his  character.  According  to  Dr  Belknap, '  he 
was  a-  man  of  ^reat  prudence,  integrity,  and  firmness  of 
mind.  He  had  a  good  estate  in  England,  which  he 
spent  in  the  emigration  to  Holland  and  America.  He 
was  one  of  the  foremost  in  action,  and  bore  a  large 
share  of  suffering  in  the  service  of  the  colony,  who  con- 
fided in  him  as  their  friend  and  father.  Piety,  humility, 
and  benevolence  were  eminent  traits  in  his  character, 
and  it  is  particularly  remembered,  that  in  the  time  of 
general  sickness,  which  befel  the  colony,  and  with 
which  he  was  affected,  after  he  had  himself  recovered, 
be  was  assiduous  in  attending  the  sick  and  performing 
the  most  humiliating  services  for  them,  without  any  dis- 
tinction of  persons  or  characters. '  His  affectionate  wife, 
overwhelmed  wuh  grief  and  sorrow,  survived  but  six 
weeks  after  his  death.  He  sustained  the  office  of 
governor  four  months  and  twenty-four  days  only.  His 
posterity  have  been  very  numerous.  '  One  of  his 
grandsons  lived  to  the  age  of  one  hundred  and  two 
years,  and  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century5(1775) 
that  descendant,  with  his  son,  grandson,  and  great 
grandson,  were  all  at  the  same  time  at  work  in  the  same 
field,  whilst -an  infant  of  the  fifth  generation  was  with- 
in the  house  at  Marslifield.' — Belknap^s  Amer.  Biog, 
At  the  death  of  governor  Carver  the  whole  number  of 
deaths  was  as  follows  : — 

December,  6 ;  January,  8;  February,  17;  March, 
13.  Of  this  number  were  21  of  the  subscribers  to  the 
civil  compact;  and  in  April  governor  Carver  was  added 


16211  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  41 

to  that  number.  The  whole  number  of  survivors  at 
this  time  was  55.  Mr.  William  Bradford,  while  yet  a 
convalescent  from  dangerous  sickness,  was  chosen  gov- 
ernor of  Plymouth,  as  successor  to  governor  Carver, 
and  Mr.  Isaac  Allerton  was  chosen  his  assistant. 

On  the  eighteenth  of  June,  two  culprits  were  ar- 
raigned before  the  company  for  trial.  These  were, 
Edward  Dotey  and  Edward  Leister,  servants  of  Ste- 
phen Hopkins,  who  had  fought  a  duel  with  sword  and 
dagger,  in  which  both  were  wounded.  They  were 
sentenced  to  have  their  head  and  feet  tied  together 
and  to  remain  in  that  situation  for  twenty-four  hours, 
without  food  or  drink.  Even  this  slight  punishment 
for  an  offence  so  criminal  was  remitted  by  the  govern- 
or, after  one  hour's  endurance,  in  consequence  of  their 
pleadings  and  promises,  and  the  earnest  desire  of  their 
master. 

A  Journey  to  PoJcanoket — forty  miles.  This  place 
was  otherwise  called  Sowams.  It  was  deemed  advisa- 
ble to  send  a  friendly  deputation  to  Massasoit,  in  order 
to  ascertBin  the  exact  place  of  his  residence,  and  his 
strength,  and  disposition,  and  to  cultivate  and  perpetu- 
ate a  leagne  of  peace  and  amity  between  the  two  par- 
ties, and  to  procure  corn  for  seed.  For  this  purpose, 
the  governor  made  chjice  of  Edward  Winslow  and 
Stephen  Hopkins,  to  be  accompanied  by  Squanto,  as 
guide  and  interpreter,  and  taking  a  horseman's  coat  of 
red  cotton  laced  with  slight  lace  as  a  present  to  the 
chief.  The  deputies  commenced  iheirjourney  on  the 
second  or  third  day  of  July,  and  reached  Namasket,  a 
part  of  Middleborough,  in  the  afternoon,  fifteen  miles. 
The  native  inhabitants  received  them  with  joy,  and 
entertained  them  in  their  best  manner,  giving  them  a 
kind  of  bread,  and  the  roes  of  shad  boiled  with  musty 
acorns.  The  natives  complained  greatly  of  the  damage 
they  sustained  in  their  corn  by  the  ravagesof  the  crows, 
and  desired  to  see  the  experiment  of  shooting  them 
with  English  guns  :  about  fourscore  of  these  birds 
4* 


42  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1621 

were  soon  brought  down,  to  the  great  amusement  of 
the  natives.  The  gentlemen  proceeded  on  their  jour- 
ney eight  miles  further,  and,  at  sun-set,  reached  a  fish- 
ing wear  at  Titicut,  on  Taunton  river,  where  abun- 
dance of  bass  were  caught.  The  natives  received 
them  in  a  friendly  manner,  and  supplied  them  with 
fish  ;  but,  destitute  of  houses,  they  took  lodgings  in  the 
open  field.  An  interchange  of  friendly  civilities  look 
place.  The  land  on  this  river  appeared  rich  and  fer- 
tile, but  the  native  inhabitants  had  a  (ew  years  before 
been  swept  off  by  pestilence.  Massasoit  hud  his  resi- 
dence on  this  river.  The  next  day  they  resumed  their 
maich,  accompanied  by  six  volunteer  savages,  and, 
having  travelled  six  miles  by  the  river  side,  they  come 
to  a  lording  place  at  low  water.  Here  they  were 
struck  with  the  valor  and  courage  of  two  savages  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  two  only  remaining  alive 
at  that  place,  both  aged — one  about  threescore.  Seeing 
a  company  of  men  entering  the  river,  they  ran  to  meet 
them  at  the  bank,  where,  with  shrill  voices  and  man- 
ly courage,  they  charged  with  their  bows,  and  de- 
manded if  they  were  enemies,  and  prepared  to  take 
advantage  while  in  tlie  w^ater.  But  finding  them  friends 
they  welcomed  them  with  such  food  as  they  had,  and 
the  English  bestowed  on  them  a  small  bracelet  of 
beads.  The  six  savages  proved  useful  companions  to 
the  ambassadors  during  their  tedious  march,  affording 
them  much  assistance  in  crossing  rivers,  and  offering  to 
carry  their  clothes  and  guns  to  relieve  them  from  fatigue 
and  heat.  The  country  through  which  they  passed 
abounded  in  good  timber,  consisting  of  oak,  walnut,  fir, 
beech,  and  chesnut,  of  immense  size  ;  also  fine  springs  of 
water,  but  without  inhabitants.  Having  arrived  at  a 
village  in  Massasoii's  territories,  they  were  treated  with 
a  meal  of  fish  and  oysters,  whence  they  proceeded  to 
Poknnoket ;  but  the  chief  was  absent.  One  of  the 
Englisl]  attempted  to  charge  his  gun.  The  women  and 
children  fled,  and  could  not  be   pacified  till  he  laid  it 


1621]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  43 

aside,  and  the  interpreter  assured  them  of  their  safety. 
But  on  the  arrival  of  Massasoit,  they  saluted  him  by 
a  full  discharge  of  muskets,  and  he  received  them  with 
every  mark  of  favor  and  respect  ;  and,  having  clothed 
him  with  the  laced  red  coat,  and  put  the  chain  about 
his  neck,  he  was  delighted  with  the  figure  he  made, 
and  his  people  viewed  their  king  with  pride  and  won- 
der. In  reply  to  their  message,  the  chief  assured  them 
that  it  was  his  desire  to  continue  in  peace  and  friend- 
ship, and  that  he  would  direct  his  people  to  that  effect, 
and  would  send  seed-corn  to  Patuxet,  as  desired. 
He  then  addressed  his  own  people  as  follows  :  '  Am 
not  1  Massasoit,  commander  of  the  country  around 
you  ?  Is  not  such  a  town  mine,  and  the  people  of  it  ? 
Will  you  not  bring  your  skins  to  the  English  ?  After 
this  manner  he  named  at  least  thirty  places,  to  every 
one  of  which  they  gave  an  answer  of  assent  and  ap- 
plause. At  the  close  of  his  speech,  he  lighted  tobac- 
co for  the  envoys,  and  proceeded  to  discourse  about 
England  and  the  English  king^  wondering  that  he 
would  live  without  a  wife.  He  talked  also  of  the 
Frenchmen,  bidding  the  English  not  to  suffer  them  to 
come  to  Narraganset,  for  it  was  king  James's  country, 
and  he  was  king  James's  man.  Night  approaching, 
and  Massasoit  having  provided  no  food,  as  he  had 
been  absent  from  home,  the  gentlemen  desired  to  retire 
to  rest.  The  lodging  place  was  on  a  platform  of  plank 
raised  a  foot  from  the  ground ;  and  their  companions 
were  Massasoit  and  wife  and  two  other  Indians,  and 
they  were  more  weary  of  their  lodging  than  of  their  jour- 
ney. The  next  day,  many  of  the  petty  sachems  and  a 
large  party  of  the  people  assembled  to  amuse  them- 
selves and  the  strangers  with  their  games  for  skins  and 
knives,  and  one  of  the  English  fired  at  a  mark,  and 
they  were  much  surprised  to  see  so  many  shot-holes. 
At  noon,  Massasoit  brought  home  two  fish,  which  he 
had  caugljt,  and  this  was  the  repast  for  forty  people, 
and  ihe  only  meal  afforded  to  the  messengers  for  two 


44  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [l631 

nights  and  a  day  ;  yet  he  importuned  them  to  tarry  long- 
er. But,  starving  for  food,  and  anxious  to  keep  the 
ensuing  sabbath  at  home,  and  moreover  despairing  of 
sleep,  for  the  filthy  lodgings,  the  noise  of  the  savages 
singing  themselves  to  sleep,  the  annoyance  of  pestiferous 
insects  within  doors,  and  musquetoes  without,  left  no 
chance  for  repose ;  and  should  they  protract  their  visit, 
they  might  not  be  able  to  return  lor  want  of  strength. 
On  Friday  morning,  therefore,  before  sunrising,  they 
took  leave  and  departed,  leaving  the  chief  both  grieved 
and  ashamed  that  he  could  entertain  them  no  better. 
Squanto  was  retained  to  collect  articles  for  traffic,  and 
Tockamahamon  appointed  to  guide  them  to  Plymouth, 
where  tbey  arrived  after  two  days'  journey. 

John  Billington,  a  boy,  having  been  lost  in  the  woods, 
and  inquiry  being  made,  Massasoit  sent  word  that  he 
was  at  Nauset  (Chatliam).  He  had  wandered  about 
five  days,  subsisting  on  berries.  The  governor  sent  ten 
men  in  a  shallop,  with  Squanto  and  Tokamahamon,  to 
recover  him.  In  July,  the  party  sailed  toward  Nauset, 
but  were  overtaken  by  a  violent  storm,  attended  with 
lightning  and  thunder ;  they  took  shelter  that  night  in 
the  bay  near  the  harbor  of  Commaquid,  (Barnstable 
harbor).  The  next  morning,  some  savages,  in  pursuit 
of  lobbters,  informed  them  that  the  boy  was  well,  but 
was  at  Nauset.  They  invited  the  English  on  shore  to 
eat  with  them  ;  four  savages  entered  the  boat  as  hosta- 
ges, while  six  went  on  shore  from  tlie  boat.  The  En- 
glish were  introduced  to  their  sachem,  or  governor, 
named  lyanough,  a  man  not  exceeding  25  years  of  age, 
of  comely  appearance  and  courteous,  and  he  afforded 
them  a  plentiful  entertainment.  Here  they  were  ac- 
costed by  an  old  woman,  supposed  to  be  not  less  than 
a  hundred  years  old,  never  having  seen  an  Englishman  : 
she  was  weeping  with  great  lamentation,  complaining 
that  she  had  three  sons  who  went  on  board  Captain 
Hunt's  ship  to  trade  with  him,  and  he  carried  them  cap- 
tives into  Spain,  by  which  means  she  was  deprived  of 
the  comfort  of  her  children  in  her  old  age.     The  Eng- 


1621]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  45 

lish  told  her  they  were  sorry,  that  Hunt  was  a  bad  man, 
and  all  the  English  condemned  him,  and  that  no  such 
injury  should  be  offered  by  themselves  ;  and,  having 
given  her  a  few  trifles,  she  was  somewhat  pacified. 
After  dinner,  they  proceeded,  accompanied  by  the  sa- 
chem, lyanough,  and  two  of  his  men,,  to  Nauset,  and 
Squanto  was  sent  to  Aspinet,  the  sachem  of  Nauset,  to 
inlorm  him  of  their  arrival.  After  sunset,  Aspinet  came 
with  the  boy,  and  a  great  train,  consisting  of  not  less 
than  one  hundred,  one  half  of  whom  .went  to  the  shal- 
lop unarmed,  carrying  the  boy  in  their  arms  through 
the  water,  while  the  rest  remained  at  a  distance,  with 
their  bows  and  arrows.  The  boy  was  now  delivered, 
decorated  to  excess  with  beads  ;  and  having  agreed  to 
a  peace,  and  presented  the  sachem  and  the  man  who 
brought  the  boy  with  knives,  the  parties  separated.  On 
their  return,  lanough  landed  at  Commaquid,  and,  to 
show  his  kindness,  he  took  a  runlet  and  led  the  seamen 
in  the  dark  to  some  distance  for  water.  In  the  mean 
time,  most  of  his  people,  men,  women,  and  children,  as- 
sembled :  the  women  joined  hand  in  hand,  singing  and 
dancing,  and  the  scene  was  closed  by  lanough  taking 
a  bracelet  from  his  neck  and  hanging  it  on  one  of  the 
English.  It  was  reported  by  the  Nausets,  that  the 
Narragansets  had  captured  Massasoit,  and  killed  some 
of  his  people;  and,  about  the  same  time,  Hobomak  a 
Pinese,  or  chief  captain  under  Massasoit,  a  lusty  young 
man,  attached  himself  to  the  English,  and  devoted  his 
life  to  their  interest  and  service.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  was  understood  that  Corbitant,  another  sachem,  had 
given  indications  of  his  attachment  to  the  Narragansets, 
a  powerful  tribe,  and  was  endeavoring  to  disaffect  the 
subjects  of  Massasoit  towards  the  colonists,and  manifest- 
ed his  enmity  to  all  that  favored  their  interest.*  Squan- 

*  Corbitant  resided  at  Mattapuyst,  a  neck  cf  land  in  the  township 
of  Swansey.  Mr.  Winslow,  who  had  frequent  conferences  with 
him  at  his  wigwam  and  at  other  places,  represents  hrnn  as  'a  hol- 
low-hearted friend   to  the  English,  a  notable   politician,  yet  full 


46  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1621 

to  and  Hobomak,  anxious  to  ascertain  the  situation  of 
their  chief,  Massasoit,  undertook  a  journey  privately  for 
that  purpose.  They  were  discovered  by  Corbitant 
the  first  night,  and  threatened  with  death.  He  seized 
Squanto,  and  held  a  knife  at  his  breast,  but  Hobomak 
effected  his  escape  to  Plymouth,  with  news  that  Squanto 
was  killed.  The  governor,  sensible  of  the  justice  and 
importance  of  protecting  the  friendly  natives,  and  of 
showing  his  own  authority,  after  consulting  the  whole 
company,  resolved  to  despatch  a  parly  of  armed  men, 
with  orders  to  attack  their  enemies  in  the  night,  and  in 
case  that  Squanto  had  been  killed,  to  put  Corbitant  to 
death,  and  bring  his  head  to  Plymouth.  On  the  14th  of 
August,  Captain  Standish,  at  the  head  of  ten  of  the 
English,  and  accompanied  by  the  friendly  Hobomak, 
commenced  the  expedition;  and  reached  Corbilant's 
cabin  in  the  night :  three  Indians,  attempting  to  escape, 
were  badly  wounded,  but  it  appeared  that  Squanto  had 
suffered  no  injury.  The  next  morning,  Slandish  break- 
fasted at  Squanto's,  and  finding  that  Corbitant  and  his 
friends  had  escaped,  and  having  accomplished  the  ob- 
ject of  his  expedition,  commenced  his  return  home. 

The  consequence  of  this  display  of  authority  on  the 
part  of  the  English  was  extremely  favorable  ;  the  natives 
in  that  quarter  were  greatly  intimidated,  and  numerous 
sachems,  nearly  all  in  the  vicinity,  solicited  the  friend- 
ship of  the  colonists.  It  appeared,  on  inquiry,  that 
the  report  of  the  capture  of  Massasoit  was  a  mistake, 
and  Corbitant  solicited  his  good  offices  to  reconcile  him 
to  the  English  ;  and  he,  together  with  several  other 
chiefs,  repaired  to  Plymouth,  to  acknowledge  them- 
selves the  loyal  subjects  of  King  James,  and  subscrib- 
ed the  following  paper  : 

'  September  13th,  1621. 

*  Know  all  men  by  these  presents,  that  we,  whose 
names  are  underwritten,  acknowledge  ourselves  to  be 
the  loyal  subjects  of  King  James,  King  of  Great  Brit- 

of  merry  jests  and  squibs,  and  never  better  pleased  than  when  the 
like  are  returned  again  upon  him.* 


1621]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  47 

ain,  France  and  Ireland,  defender  of  the  faith,  &ic.  In 
witness  whereof,  and  as  a  testimonial  of  the  same,  we 
have  subscribed  our  names,  or  marks,  as  follovveth.' 
Subscribed  by  nine  sachems.  The  colonists  had  now 
secured  the  entire  friendship  and  good  services  of  the 
great  sachem,  Massasoit,  and,  partly  by  bis  influence, 
brought  most  of  the  petty  sachems  to  terms  of  submis- 
sion and  peace.  One  event  had  previously  occurred, 
which  the  natives  had  in  remembrance,  and  which  serv- 
ed to  restrain  their  evil  propensities.  A  French  ship 
had  been  wrecked  on  Cape  Cod,  and  most  of  the  crew 
sacrificed.  One  Frenchman  only  was  permitted  to 
live  among  the  natives.  He  told  them  that  God  was 
angry  with  them  for  this  wickedness,  and  would  de- 
stroy them,  and  give  their  country  to  another  people  ; 
that  they  should  not  live  like  beasts,  as  they  did,  but 
should  be  clothed,  &;c.  But  they,  in  derision,  replied, 
that  they  were  so  many  that  God  could  not  kill  them. 
He  answered  that  though  they  were  never  so  many,  God 
had  many  ways  to  destroy  them  that  they  knew  not. 
The  pestilence  which  depopulated  their  country  took 
place  soon  after  the  death  of  the  Frenchman,  and  the 
arrival  of  the  English  soon  followed.  The  prediction 
being  fulfilled,  produced  a  salutary  influence  on  the  na- 
tives. 

A  tribe  called  the  Massachusetts,  had  manifested  in- 
dications of  hostility  against  the  English.  The  gover- 
nor and  company,  therefore,  desirous  to  ascertain  their 
strength,  their  particular  situation,  and  circumstances, 
resolved  to  send  a  party  to  explore  the  bay  on  which 
they  resided,  and  to  propose  to  them  terms  of  peace, 
trade,  and  friendship.  Accordingly,  on  the  eighteenth 
of  September,  the  shallop  was  dispatched  with  ten 
Englishmen,  Squanto  for  their  interpreter,  and  two 
other  Indians.  They  arrived  in  the  harbor  of  Shawmut, 
(Boston,)  the  next  day,  and  anchored  under  a  cliff, 
which  Dr.  Belknap  supposes  to  be  Copp's  Hill,  at  the 
bottom  of  the  bay,  and  twenty  leagues  from  Plymouth. 


48 


HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH. 


[1621 


Here  ihey  had  an  interview  with  the  Sachem  Obtain- 
naa,  one  of  the  parties  to  the  submission  signed  a  few 
days  before  at  Plymouth.  He  renewed  his  submission, 
receiving  a  promise  of  defence  against  his  enemies, 
particularly  against  the  Sachem  of  Massachusetts.  They 
were  treated  by  the  natives  with  hospitality  and  respect, 
after  their  fears  had  subsided  ;  and  having  collected  a 
quantity  of  beaver,  on  the  20lh,  in  the  evening,  having 
the  benefit  of  a  light  moon,  set  sail,  and  arrived  at  Ply- 
mouth before  noon  the  next  dav.  The  shallop's  crew 
made  such  a  favorable  report  respecting  the  country 
which  they  had  just  visited,  as  to  excite  the  envy  of  the 
colonists,  who  regretted  that  it  had  not  fallen  to  their  lot 
to  be  seated  there.  Although  health  was  now  restored 
to  their  dwelling,  they  were  gathering  in  their  harvest; 
provisions  were  plenty  ;  water  fowl  and  fish  abounded  ; 
deer  and  wild  turkey  were  in  the  forest  ;  they  had 
opened  a  successful  traffic  with  the  natives,  and  their 
houses  were  in  good  condition  for  the  approaching 
winter. 

On   the  tenth   of  November,  the  Fortune,  a  vessel 
of  fifty-five  tons  burthen,  arrived  at  Cape  Cod,  bring 


ing  Mr.  Robert  Cushman, 

gers,  whose  names  follow 

Robert  Cushman 

William  Hilton 

John  Winslow 

William  Coner 

John  Adams 

William  Tench 

John  Cannon 

William  Wright 

Robert  Hickes 

Thomas  Prence  (Prince, 
afterwards  Governor, 

Stephen  Dean 

Moses  Simonson  (Sim- 
mons) 


and  thirty-five  more  passen- 

Philip  De  La  Noye  (De- 
lano) 
Edward  Bompasse 

(Bumpus  and  Bump) 
Clement  Brigges   (Briggs) 
James   Steward  (Stewart) 
W^illiam   Pitts 
William  Palmer,    probably 

two  in  his  family 
Jonathan  Brewster 
Bennet  Morgan 
Thomas  Flavill,  and  his  son 
Hugh  Stacie   (Stacy) 
WiUiam  Beale 


1621]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  49 

Thomas  Cusliman  Tliomas  Morton 

Austin  Nicolas  (Nicholas)  William  Basslte  (Basset!,) 

Widow    Foord,     piohably  two  probably  -in  his  Ikmily, 
four  in  her  family 

It  was  unfortunate  that  this  ship  was  so  long  on  the 
voyage,  that  she  had  expended  nearly  all  her  provisions. 
She  was  soon  laden  with  a  cargo,  valued  at  £500, 
consisting  of  furs,  clapboards,  and  sassafras,  and  being 
provisioned  by  the  planters,  (though,  greatly  to  their 
damage)  she  was  dispatched  on  her  return  voyage,  on 
the  13th  of  December  ;  but  near  the  English  coast  she 
was  captured  and  carried  into  France,  but  afterwards 
released.'  Mr.  Cushman  returned  in  the  ship,  as  the 
adventurers  had  directed,  to  give  them  information  re- 
specting the  plantation. 

-  Soon  after  the  departure  of  the  Fortune,  the  new 
comers  were  distributed  amongst  the  several  families, 
and,  on  taking  an  estimate  of  their  provisions,  it  was 
found  necessary  to  put  the  whole  company  on  half 
allowance,  to  which  they  cheerfully  submitted.  At 
this  critical  juncture,  the  Narragansets,  learning  that  the 
ship  brought  neither  arms  nor  provisions,  began  to 
manifest  hostile  intentions.  Their  threats  and  prepcira- 
tions  were  well  known  to  the  English.  At  length  they 
sent  messengers  to  the  plantation,  with  a  bundle  of 
arrows  tied  together  with  a  snake's  skin.  This  the 
English  received  as  a  wnr  challenge,  and  governor 
Bradford  informed  the  chief  sachem,  Cannonicus,  that 
if  they  loved  war  they  might  begin  it,  as  he  was  not 
unprepared.  By  an  Indian,  the  governor,  after  consult- 
ing the  settlers,  sent  back  the  snake's  skin  stuffed  with 
gunpowder  and  bullets,  with  a  verbal  message  of  de- 
fiance. This  produced  the  desired  effect.  The  sa- 
chem was  intimidated,  dared  not  touch  the  snake's  skin, 
nor  let  it  remain  in  his  house,  but  returned  it  to  the 
English  unopened.  The  settlers  now  judged  it  pru- 
dent to  enclose  their  houses  by  a  strong  impalement, 
5 


50  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [l622 

which  was  completed  in  February.  They  also,  for 
further  security,  enclosed  part  of  the  hill,  and  formed 
bulwarks  with  gates  to  be  locked  at  night,  and  watch 
and  ward  was  kept  dining  the  day.  The  ground  en- 
closed afforded  a  garden  for  each  family.  The  whole 
company  was  divided  into  four  squadrons,  and  each 
one  had  its  particular  posts  assigned  it,  in  case  of  alarm. 
One  of  the  companies  was  directed  to  attend  partic- 
ularly to  any  fires  that  might  happen,  while  others  were 
to  serve  as  guards  with  their  muskets.  In  all  these 
military  anangements  for  the  security  of  the  town, 
Captain  Standish  was  their  main  dependence,  and  he 
proved  himself  well  deserving  their  confidence. 

1622. — About  the  beginning  of  April,  another  expe- 
dition on  a  trading  voyage  to  the  Massachusetts  was 
in  preparation,  when  Hobomak  intimated  his  fears 
that  the  Narragansets  and  the  Massachusetts  had  farm- 
ed a  private  league  against  the  English  for  their  de- 
struction, and,  by  sending  off  a  part  of  their  force,  the 
town  would  be  exposed  to  great  danger  from  the  Nar- 
ragansets, while  those  on  the  expedition  would  be  de- 
stroyed by  the  Massachusetts.  These  apprehensions, 
however  did  not  prevent  the  expedition.  Captain 
Standish,  with  ten  principal  men,  and  taking  both 
Squaoto  and  Hobomak,  proceeded  on  the  voyage. 
Having  reached  the  mouth  of  the  haibor  near  the  Gur- 
net's nose,  they  were  becalmed,  and  came  to  anchor. 
While  there,  an  Indian  of  Squanto's  family  came  run- 
ning into  town  with  his  face  covered  with  blood,  calling 
to  the  people  abroad  to  make  haste  home,  saying  he 
received  the  wound  in  his  face  for  speaking  for  the 
English,  and  frequently  looking  back  as  if  the  assail- 
ants were  fast  behind  him.  He  informed  the  Gover- 
nor that"  there  w«^re  many  Narragansets,  together  with 
Massasoit  and  Corbitant  and  others  approaching  to 
assault  the  town,  in  the  absence  of  Captain  Standish. 
Upon  this  information,  the  governor  ordered  three 
pieces  of  cannon  to  be  fired.     Standish  and  his  crew 


1622]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  54 

taking  the  alarm,  immediately  returned,  prepared  for 
action.  Hobomak  was  positive  that  it  was  all  fiction, 
as  it  proved.  He  was  a  pinese,  he  said,  and  such  an 
enterprize  would  not  be  undertaken  by  Massasoit  with- 
out consulting  him.  At  the  request  of  the  Governor, 
he  sent  his  wife  to  Massasoit's  residence,  pretending 
other  business,  to  inform  herself  of  the  true  state  of 
things.  She  foiuid  all  quiet,  and  that  no  mischief  had 
been  intended.  She  then  informed  Massasoit  of  what 
had  occurred  at  Plymouth,  who  was  much  offended 
with  Squanto  for  his  conduct.  After  this  affair,  Stan- 
dish  prosecuted  his  voyage  to  the  Massachusetts,  made 
a  i;ood  trade,  and  returned  in  safety.  It  was  now  seen 
by  the  English  that  Squanto  was  not  to  be  relied  on, 
that  he  was  actuated  by  selfish  views,  endeavoring  to 
make  his  countrymen  believe  that  he  had  great  Influ- 
ence with  the  English,  as  he  understood  their  lan- 
guage ;  in  consequence  of  which  he  deluded  many, 
atid  gained  some  advantages  to  himself  He  made 
the  natives  believe,  that  the  English  were  their  ene- 
mies, that  they  kept  the  plague  buried  in  the  ground, 
and  could  spread  it  through  the  country  at  pleasure, 
wdiich  created  great  terror  among  the  Indians,  and  in- 
duced them  to  place  much  dependence  on  him,  to  se- 
cure for  them  the  friendship  of  the  English.  Some 
barrels  of  gunpowder  were  buried  under  ground  In 
the  store  house,  and  when  taken  out,  Hobomak  inquir- 
ed of  Squanto,  what  they  were  }  He  replied,  that 
they  contained  the  plague,  which  he  had  formerly 
mentioned.  Hobomak  inquired  of  an  Englishman  if 
this  was  true  ;  he  answered,  No  !  but  the  God  of  the 
English  possessed  it,  and  could  use  it  for  the  destruction 
of  his  enemies,  and  the  enemies  of  the  English.  Such 
were  the  devices,  and  such  the  duplicity  of  Squanto, 
to  increase  his  influence  among  his  brethren  ;  and  it 
was  perceived  that  he  had  succeeded  but  too  well  in 
obtaining  for  himself  the  respect  due  to  Massasoit  only. 
The  planters  spared  no  pains. to  counteract  these  pro- 


52  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH,  [1622 

ceedings,  by  assuring  the  natives  that  Squanto  was  a 
deceiver,  and  that  they  had  no  reason  to  fear  the  En- 
glish, so  long  as  they  conducted  peaceably  towards 
them.  Massasoit  at  length  became  so  embittered 
against  Squanto,  that,  on  a  visit  at  Plymouth,  he  de- 
manded of  governor  Bradford  that  he  should  be  put 
to  death  ;  but  this  was  refused,  and  after  his  return 
home,  he  sent  messengers  to  repeat.the  demand,  as- 
serting his  claim  to  Squanto  as  his  subject,  according 
to  the  terms  of  the  existing  treaty.  The  demand  was 
repeated  with  such  pressing  importunity,  that  the  gov- 
ernor admitted  ihat  he  deserved  death,  and  was  about 
to  delivered  him  up,  though  with  great  reluctance,  as 
Squanto  was  the  only  one  who  understood  both  lan- 
guages, by  which  the  necessary  intercourse  could  be 
kept  up.  Massasoit  offered  many  beaver  skins  in  ex- 
change for  Squanto,  but  the  -governor  disdained  to 
sell  his  life,  but  assured  the  messenger  that  Squanto 
had  justly  forfeited  it  by  his  falsehood  and  deceit. 
With  the  messengers,  Massasoit  sent  his  own  knife  for 
the  avowed  purpose  of  cutting  ofFSquanto's  head  and 
hands,  and  the  culprit  readily  yielded  himself  and  sub- 
mitted his  life,  without  the  least  apparent  reluctance  to 
the  will  of  the  governor.  At  the  moment  when  he 
was  about  to  be  delivered  into  the  hands  of  the  messen- 
gers, a  shallop  appeared  in  the  offing  ;  the  governor 
having  h^feard  many  rumors  of  the  French,  and,  doubt- 
ful whether  there  were  not  combinations  between  them 
and  the  savages,  refused  to  deliver  Squanto  up,  until 
he  should  first  have  ascertained  what  boat  was  ap- 
proaching. Thus  Squanto  escaped  ;  for  the  messen- 
gers, vexed  at  the  delay,  immediately  departed  in  great 
rage.  The  boat  in  question  proved  to  be  a  shallop 
belonging  to  a  fishing  vessel,  the  property  of  Thomas 
Weston,  a  merchant  in  London,  which,  with  about 
thirty  others,  was  employed  in  the  fishing  business,  on 
the  eastern  shore  near  Penobscot.  This  was  in  the 
month  of  May,  when  the  wiiole  colony   was   entirely 


1622]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.        -  53 

destitute  of  bread,  and  their  other  provisions  were  al- 
most expended.  It  was  out  of  season  for  sea  fowl, 
and  they  were  unprovided  with  seines  and  hooks  for 
fishing.  They  had  subsisted  on  clam's  and  odier  shell 
fish,  until  they  were  greatly  debilitated.  The  shal- 
lop above  mentioned  brought  six  or  seven  passengers 
from  the  fishing  vessels  from  London  to  be  added  to 
the  planters,  but  no  supply  of  provisions.  Governor 
Bradford  dispatched  Edward  Winslow  to  purchase 
articles  of  provision  of  the  fishermen,  but  none  could 
be  obtained,  excepting  fiom  the  generosity  of  one 
Captain,  who  supplied  them  gratuitously  wiih  bread, 
sufficient  to  give  each  person  in  tiie  plantation  a 
quarter  of  a  pound  daily  until  the  harvest.  *  This  was 
the  daily  portion/  says  Mr.  Winslow,  '  which  was  dis- 
tributed :  until  now,  we  were  never  without  some  bread, 
the  want  whereof  much  abated  the  strength  and  flesh 
of  some,  and  swelled  others — and,  indeed,  had  we  not 
been  in  a  place  where  divers  sorts  of  shell  fish  are, 
that  may  be  taken    with  the  hand,  we   must  have  j)er- 

j  ished,  unless  God  had  raised  some  unknown  or  extra- 

j   ordinary  nieans  (or  our  preservation.' 

In  addition  to  this  calamity,  the  Indians  threatened 
thern,  and  boasted  how  easily  they  could  effect  their 
destruction,  and  Massasoit,  even  manifested  a  coolness 
and  indifference  about  his  English  friends.  In  the 
mean  time,  news  arrived  of  a  horrihle  massacre  of  the 
English  in  Virginia  on  tlie27ih  of  March,  1622.  Three 
hundred  and  f  ^rty-seven  of  the  English  were  slain  by 
the  Indians.  '  The  massacre  was  conducted  with  indis- 
criminate barbarity.  No  regard  was  shown  to  dignity, 
no  gratitude  for  benefits.'  Justly  alarmed  for  their 
safety,  they  immediately  began  to  build  a  strong  and 
handsome  fort,,  taking  in  the  top  of  the  hill,  under 
which  our  town  is  seated  with  a  flat  roof  and  battle- 
ment, on  which  cannon  were  mounted,  and  a  watch 
kept.  The  lower  part  was  used  as  a  place  of  public 
worship.  Thus  did  these  pious  people  offer  their  de- 
5* 


54  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1622 

vout  aspirations  to  God  with  the  sword  in  one  hand  and 
the  Bible  in  the  other.  '  About  the  end  of  March/ 
says  Mr.  Winslow,  'our  store  of  victuals  was  wholly 
spent,  liaving  Hved  long  before  on  a  bare  and  short  al- 
lowance. As  to  tlie  insufficient  stock  of  provisions, 
brought  by  the  Fortune,  he  suggests  as  an  apology  for 
their  friends  in  England,  certain  among  ourselves 
were  too  prodigal  in  writing  and  reporting  that  we  en- 
joyed a  plenty.' 

The  colonists  now,  in  June  and  July,  consisted  of 
about  one  hundred  persons  in  tolerable  health ;  they 
had,  this  season,  planted  sixty  acres  of  corn,  and  their 
gardens  afforded  ample  supplies  of  vegetables. 

Thomas  Weston,  a  merchant  in  London,  was  origi- 
nally one  of  the  merchant  adventurers.  He  encour- 
aged the  emigration,  and  actively  promoted  the  Ply- 
mouth settlement,  till  this  year.  Why  he  now  with- 
drew his  patronage,  could  not  be  known  ;  but  by  a  let- 
ter from  him,  addressed  to  governor  Carver,  '  We  find,' 
says  governor  Bradford,  '  he  has  quite  deserted  us, 
and  is  going  to  settle  a  plantation  of  his  own.  And  hav-. 
ing  procured  for  himself  a  patent  of  a  tract  of  land  in 
Masaschusetts  Bay,  he  sent  two  ships,  the  Charity  and 
the  Swan,  with  fifty  or  sixty  men,  at  his  own  charge,  to 
settle  a  plantation.  These  adventurers  arrived  at  Ply- 
mouth about  June  or  July,  many  of  them  in  a  sickly 
condition  ;  and  most  of  them  remained  there  the  great- 
er part  of  the  suiitmer,  and  received  from  the  inhabit- 
ants every  hospitality  and  kindness  which  the  place 
could  afford.  But  they  were  ungrateful  enough  to  com- 
mit numerous  thefts,  and  waste  the  provisions  of  the 
planters  who  furnished  them.  .  At  length  they  located 
themselves  on  Weston's  land,  at  a  place  called  Wessa- 
gusset,  in  the  Massachusetts  Bay,  (now  Weymouth.) 
This  was  a  rival  settlement,  and  consisted  of  profligate 
miscreants  altogether  unfit  for  such  an  enterprise,  and 
proved  very  troublesome  neighl)ors. 

In  the  month  of  August,  another  ship  arrived  from 


1622]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  95 

England  called  the  Discovery,  commanded  by  Captain 
Jones,  the;  former  commander  of  the  Mayflower;  and 
also  the  Sparrow,  belonging  to  Mr.  Weston,  which  bad 
been  employed  on  a  fishing  voyage.  Captain  Jones 
brought  a  large  supply  of  trinkets,  suitable'  for  traffic 
with  the  natives,  but  his  enormous  demand  for  the  ar- 
ticles, and  unwillingness  to  sell  but  in  large  quantities, 
showed  his  disposition  to  take  an  ungenerous  advantage 
of  the  famishing  planters,  and  compel  them  to  pur- 
chase at  exorbitant  prices  that  they  might  traffic  with  the 
natives  for  corn. 

Weston's  undeserving  company  soon  squandered 
away  their  provisions,  and  were  reduced  to  a  state  of 
starvation  ;  thieving  among  the  natives  was  their  next 
resort.  They  were  continually  exasperating  the  sava- 
ges against  both  settlements,  till  at  length  they  became 
contemptible  in  the  eyes  of  the  natives  themselves. 
One  of  them  was  so  greatly  enfeebled  for  want  of  food, 
that,  in  attempting  to  dig  clums,  his  feet  got  caught  in 
the  mud  and  before  he  could  be  extricated  he  perished. 
They  would  debase  themselves  by  the  most  abject  ser- 
vices for  the  natives,  and  they  in  return  would  rob 
them  t5t  their  miserable  food  and  their  blankets  while 
asleep.  Pressing  and  clamorous  complaints  were 
made  by  the  Indians  to  the  governor,  and  some  were 
stocked  and  some  whipped,  without  amendment ;  at 
length  to  appease  the  injured  savages,  it  was  thought  ne- 
cessary to  hang  on(3  of  those  who  had  been  convicted 
of  stealing.  '  A  waggish  report  became  current  that 
the  real  offender  was  spared,  and  that  a  poor  decrepid 
old  man.  that  was  unserviceable  to  the -company,  was 
hung  in  his  stead.'  'Upon  this  story,*  says  Mr.  Hubbard 
in  his  MS.  History  of  New  England,  '  the  merry  gen- 
tleman that  wrote  the  poem  called  Hudibras  did,  in 
his  poetical  fancy,  make  so  much  sport.'  *  The  pas- 
sage referred  to  is  well  known.' 

•  Our  brethren  of  New  England  use 
Choice  malefactors  to  excuse. 


66  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1623 

And  han^  the  guiltless  in  their  stead, 
Of  whom  the  churches  have  less  need.' 

Hudibras,  part  ii.  canto  2. 

'  Mr  Hubbard  seriously  contradicts  the  story,  but 
with  a  quahfication,  that  would  not  perhaps  have^ 
deprived  the  poet  of  an  allusion,  so  convenient  for  his 
purpose,  and  so  congenial  to  his  feelings.  As  Mr. 
Hubbard  had  the  account  from  the  Plymouth  people, 
the  person  hanged  was  really  guilty  of  stealing,  as 
were  many  of  the  rest ;  yet,  it  is  possible,  that  justice 
might  be  executed,  not  on  him  that  most  deserved  it, 
but  on  him  that  could  best  be  spared,  or  who  was  not 
likely  to  livelong,  if  he  had  been  let  alone.' — JVew  Eng-' 
land  JVIemoriaL 

1623.  Pardy  to  benefit  Weston's  starving  peo- 
ple, and  partly  to  provide  for  his  own  families,  gov- 
ernor Bradford  agreed  to  accompany  them  in  the 
Swan,  their  own  ship,  on  an  expedition  to  Cape  Cod, 
to  procure  corn  from  the  natives.  He  afterwards 
went  a  second  time,  in  company  with  Captain  Stan- 
dish  in  another  shallop,  after  the  Captain  had  recov- 
ered from  sickness.  These  voyages 'were  attend- 
ed with  the  greatest  hazard,  by  reason  of  Solent 
storms  ;  but  they  returned  in  safety,  and  brought  a  good 
supply  of  corn,  which  they  divided  equally  between  the 
two  plantations.  At  Nauset  the  shallop  was  stranded 
in  a  storm  ;  part  of  the  corn  and  beans,  of  which  they 
had  26  or  28  hogsheads,  was  stacked  and  covered  with 
mats,  and  left  in  charge  of  the  Indians.  The  governor, 
procuring  a  guide,  travelled  home  on  foot,  receiv- 
ing all  respect  from  the  natives  by  the  way,  and  weary 
with  galled  feet  and  disappointment.  In  tliis  first 
voyage  the  governor  took  Squanto  as  an  interpreter 
and  pilot,  but  unfortunately  he  was  seized  with  a  mor- 
tal fever  at  Cape  Cod,  of  which  he  soon  died.  This 
loss  was  severely  felt,  as  his  place  could  not  be  sup- 
plied. 

Although  on  a   former  occasion  his  conduct  was 


1623]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  57 

somewhat  exceptionable,  yet,  as  interpreter  and  pilot, 
the  En2;lish  always  found  him  faithful  and  ready  to  de- 
vote himself  to  their  service.  *  A  short  time  previous 
to  his  deaUi,  he  requested  governor  Bradford  to  pray 
that  he  might  go  to  the  Englis*hman's  God  in  heaven  ; 
and  he  bequeathed  his  little  property  to  his  English 
friends,  as  remembrances  of  his  love.' 

January.  Captain  Standish  made  frequent  successful 
excursions  during  the  winter,  to  traffic  for  corn. and  furs. 
While  at  Nauset,  and  his  shallop  in  a  creek,  an  Indian 
stole  from  him  some  beads,  scissors,  and  other  trifles. 
Standish  complained  to  the  sachem,  and  threatened  him 
and  his  people  with  punishment,  unless  they  were  re- 
stored. The  next  day,  the  sachem  with  a  number  of 
his  men  appeared  to  make  satisfaction.  First,  by  way 
of  salutation,  he  thrust  out  his  tongue  to  its  full  length, 
and  drew  it  across  the  Captain's  wrist  and  hand  to  his 
fingers  ends.  Next,  he  attempted  to  bow^  the  knee  in 
imitation  of  the  English,  having  been  instructed  by 
Squanto.  All  his  men  followed  his  example,  but  in  so 
awkward  a  manner,  that  the  English  could  scarce  refrain 
from  breaking  out  in  open  laughter.  After  this  cere- 
mony, he  delivered  the  stolen  goods,  assuring  the  Cap- 
tain that  he  had  punished  the  thief.  He  then  directed 
the  women  to  make  some  bread  for  the  company,  and 
expressed  his  sorrow  for  the  theft,  and  was  glad  to  be 
reconciled. 

February.  Captain  Standish,  being  on  a  visit  to  Mat- 
tachiest  (Barnstable)  to  purchase  corn,  the  people  freely 
supplied  him,  pretending  to  regard  him  with  great  friend- 
ship and  respect.  Several  strangers  also  appeared, 
wishing  only  to  see  him  and  his  company  ;  but  Standish 
saw  reason  to  suspect  that  they  were  planning  to  kill 
him.  He,  therefore,  ordered  that  part  of  his  company 
should  remain  awake,  and  watch  all  night.  It  was  not 
long  before  some  beads  were  stolen.  Standish,  having 
but  six  men  with  him,  ordered  that  all  should  leave  the 
boat,  and  surround  the  house  which  contained  the  sa- 


58  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1623 

chem  and  his  people.  He  now  assured  them  that  as 
he  would  not  offer  the  least  injury  to  one  of  them,  so 
he  would  receive  none  from  any  person,  and  demand- 
ed the  stolen  articles.  The  sachem  having  directed 
the  thief  to  go  slyly  and  put  them  into  the  boat,  desired 
the  Captain  to  search  for  them  there ;  he,  suspecting 
their  knavery,  sent  a  man  who  found  the  articles  laying 
in  plain  sight  on  the  boat's  cuddy.  These  people  now 
supplied  him  with  corn  enough  to  load  his  shallop. 
These  spirited  measures  produced  an  admirable  effect 
upon  these  faithless  people,  and  kept  them  in  constant 
fear. 

March.  On  a  visit  to  Manomet,"^  Captain  Standish 
was  apprehensive  that  the  natives  were  plotting  his  de- 
struction. Being  some  distance  from  his  boat,  with 
only  two  or  three  men,  and  the  same  number  at  the 
boat,  he  entered  the  house  of  Canancum,  the  sachem  ; 
soon  after  which  two  of  the  Mass:ichusetts  Indians  en- 
tered. The  chief  one,  called  VVattawamat,  was  a  no- 
table, insulting  villain,  who  had  formerly  imbrued  his 
bands  in  the  blood  of  English  and  French,  and  had 
often  boasted  of  his  own  valor,  and  derided  the  weak- 
ness of  the  English,  especially  because,  as  he  said,  they 
died  crying,  making  sour  faces,  more  like  children  than 
men.  This  fellow  took  a  dagger  from  his  neck,  and 
presented  to  the  sachem,  accompanied,  by  a  long 
speech,  which  the  Captain  could  not  understand,  but 
which  was  of  the  following  purport.  The  Massachu- 
setts had  concluded  to  destroy  Weston's  company,  but 
dare  not  attempt  it,  till  they  could  gather  strength 
enough  to  destroy  the  Plymouth  people  also,  as  they 
would  never  leave  the  death  of  their  countrymen  unre-- 

*  Manomet  is  the  name  of  a  creek,  or  river,  which  runs  through 
the  towr  of  Sandwich  into  th'^  upper  part  of  Buzzard's  Bay,  foircer- 
ly  called  Manomet  Bay.  Between  this  and  Scuss^U  Creek,  is  the 
place,  which,  for  more  than  a  century,  has  been  thought  of,  as  pro- 
per to  be  cut  through,  to  form  a  communication  by  a  navigable  ca- 
nal from  Barnstable  Bay  to  Buzzard's  Bay.  It  is  only  six  miles 
across. 


1623]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  59 

venged,  and  they  could,  not  be  safe  unless  boih  planta- 
tions were  overthrown.  To  this  end,  they  formerly 
had  solicited  this  sachem,  and  also  lyanough  at  Malta- 
chiest,  and  many  others,  to  assist  them ;  and  now, 
since  there  was  so  fair  an  opportunity  by  tlie  Captain's 
presence,  it  was  best  they  should  make  sure  of  him  and 
his  company.  The  savtiges  endeavored  to  persuade 
Standish  to  send  for  the  remainder  of  the  boat's  crew, 
but  he  refused.  At  the  same  lime  there  was  a. lusty 
Indian  of  Paomet  (Truro)  present,  who  had  professed 
friendship  for  the  Enghsh,  especially  for  Standish. 
This  savage  was  in  confederacy  with  the  rest,  but  was 
very  artful  in  keeping  up  appearances,  offering  many 
presents,  saying  he  was  rich,  and  could  afford  to  bestow 
such  favors  on  his  friends  whom  he  loved.  He  also 
offered  to  carry  some  of  his  corn  to  the  shallop,  a  kind 
of  labor  which  he  said  he  had  never  performed  for  any 
man  in  his  life  before.  And  that  he  might  havii  a  bet- 
ter opportunity  to  kill  the  Captain,  he  importuned  him 
to  lodge  at  his  hut,  but  the  weather  was  so  excessive- 
ly cold  that  he  was  unable  to  sleep,  and  kept  about 
the  fire.  The  Indian  frequently  inquired  why  he  did 
not  sleep  as  usual,  and  urged  him  to  it,  but  he  replied 
that  he  had  no  desire  to  rest.  The  next  day,  the  In- 
dian embarked  whh  Standish,  and  urged  him  to  ac- 
company him  to  Paomet,  promising  to  supply  him  with 
corn,  which  the  Captain  complied  with,  not  in  the  least 
suspecting  an  evil  design  ;  but  the  boat  was  forced 
back  by  a  contrary  wind,  and  returned  to  Plymouth. 
Thus  the  savage  in  two  attempts  was  providentially 
frustrated  in  his  diabolical  intentions. 

March.  Visit  to  Massasoit.  Information  being  re- 
ceived that  Massasoit  was  dangerously  sick,  and  that  a 
Dutch  ship  was  stranded  near  his  house,  the  governor 
sent  Edward  Winslow  and  Johij  Hampden,  with  Hobo- 
mak,  to  visit  him  and  minister  to  his  comfort,  as  this 
act  is  not  only  commendable  in  itself,  but  is  conforma- 
ble to  the  prevailing  custom  among  the  natives  in  case 


60  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1623      1 

of  sickness.  Mr.  Hampden  was  a  gentleman  from  Lon- 
don, says  Winslow,   who   was   spending   the  winter  at,: 
Plymouth,  and  was  desirous  of  seeing  the  country.   Dr. 
Belknap  supposes  this  to  be  the  same  person  who  dis- 
tinguished himself  by  his  opposition   to   the  illegal  and 
arbitrary  demands  of  King  Charles  I.*  \_Biog.  vol.  ii.  p. 
229.] — Winslow  was  acquainted  with   the   Dutch  lan- 
guage, and  it  was  desirable  to  have  a  conference  with  i 
them.;  he  was,  moreover,  a  warm  friend  ol  Massasoit,  , 
and  he  provided   for  the  occasion   some   comfortable 
cordials,  &tc.     The  first  night  they  lodged   with  their 
Indian  friends  at  Namasket ;  the  next  day,  about  one; 
o'clock,  they  came  to   a   ferry  in   Corbitant's  country, 
(Slade's  lerry  in  Swansey,)  where  they  met  with  many 
Indians,  who  informed  them  that  Massasoit  was  dead, 
and  was  that  day  to  be  buried,  and  that  the  Dutch  ship  > 
would  be  off  before  tliey  could  arrive.     This  was  un- 
welcome news,  and  Hobomak  wished  to  return  imme- 
diately to  Plymouth.     But  Winslow,   conceiving  that . 
Corbitant  would  probably  succeed  Massasoit,  and   that . 
the  distance  was  only  three  miles  to  his  dwelling-place, , 
(Mattapoiset,)  prevailed  on   Hampden   and    Hobomak 
to  proceed,  although  the  visit  might   be  attended  with 

*  '  When  wandering  about  the  woods  of  Pakanoket,  or  alongj  the  ; 
banks  of  Taunton  river,  or  sleeping  'n  Indian  huts,  little  did  Hamp- 
den dream  of  the  fate  which  awaited  him.  Little  did  he  tliink  that 
it  was  reserved  for  him  to  commence  the  ovei throw  of  the  British 
monarchy,  and  to  shed  his  blood  in  the  first  daring  attempt  for  a  free 
constitution  in  England,' — Baylies,  vol.i.  p.  110. 

We  are  not  aware  that  such  a  visit  by  Hampden  is  mentioned  by 
any  British  writer.  We  have  never  met  with  '  the  memorial  of ' 
Jofin  Hampden,  by  Lord  Nugent, '  but,  from  the  notice  of  this  work  : 
in  the  Edinburgh  Review,  we  infer  there  was  no  knowledge  of  the 
fact  of  such  a  visit.  At  this  period,  (1620,)  he  had  not  risen  to  dis- 
tinction, but  he  was  the  father  of  a  family,  and  a  member  of  Parlia- 
ment, and  a  total  silence  as  to  such  a  voyage,  especially  in  epistolary 
correspondence,  is  a  little  difficult  to  be  accounted  for.  It  is  a 
known  fact,  however,  that  Hampden  had  a  paitiality  for  the  puritans, 
and  was  a  warm  friend  to  the  New  England  Colonies,  and  it  is  cer- 
tain, also,  that,  at  a  subsequent  period,  he  with  his  relative,  Oliver 
Cromwell,  was  actually  on  ship  board,  boiind  to  New  England,  and 
was  stopped  by  order  of  the  royal  government. 


1623]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  61 

danger,  as  Corbitant  was  considered  to  be  unfriendly. 
Hobomak  immediately  began  to  manifest  bis  great  grief, 
exclaiming  often  on  the  way,  '  Neen  womasu  sagimus, 
neen  womasu  sagimus,  &,c.  My  loving  sachem,  my 
I  loving  sachem,  many  have  I  known,  but  never  any  like 
I  thee.'  And  turning  to  Mr.  Winslow,  he  said,  '  Whilst  I 
live  I  never  shall  see  his  like  amongst  the  Indians  :  he 
was  no  liar,  he  was  not  bloody  and  cruel,  like  other 
Indians.  In  anger  and  passion,  tie  was  soon  reclaim- 
ed ;  easy  to  be  reconciled  towards  such  as  had  offend- 
ed him  ;  ruled  by  reason,  not  scorning  the  advice  of 
mean  men  ;  governing  his  men  better  with  few  strokes 
than  others  did  with  many  ;  truly  loving  where  he 
loved  ;  and  he  feared  that  the  English  had  not  a  faith- 
ful friend  left  among  the  Indians,  &ic.'  In  this  strain 
of  lamentation  and  sorrow  he  continued,  till  they  arrived 
at  Corbitant's  house  ;  but  he  being  gone  to  visit  Massa- 
soit,  the  squaw  sachem  gave  them  a  kind  enti^rtain- 
raent,  and  informed  them  that  the  death  of  Massasoit 
was  not  certain,  but  supposed  to  be  true.  Winslow 
hired  an  Indian  to  go  with  all  expedition  to  Pokano- 
ket  and  ascertain  the  fact,  and  to  inform  Corbitant  that 
they  were  at  his  house.  News  was  soon  brought  that 
the  king  was  not  dead,  though  there  was  no  hope  that 
they  would  find  him  living.  On  their  arrival,  they 
found  the  Dutch  ship  had  sailed,  and  that  Massasoit 
still  breathed  ;  his  hut  was  filled  and  surrounded  with 
people.  The  pawaws  were  in  the  diligent  exercise 
of  their  incantations  and  charms  for  him,  making  a 
*  hellish  noise,'  terrifying  both  sick  and  well,  and  six 
or  eight  women  were  chafing  his  limbs.  Massasoit  was 
apparently  expiring,  his  sight  had  wholly  left  him,  but 
being,  told  that  his  English  friends  had  come  to  see  him, 
he  inquired  who  had  come,  and  on  being  told  Winslow, 
he  desired  to  speak  to  him  ;  on  his  approach  he  put 
forth  his  hand  and  said  twice,  though  very  feebly, 
keen  M^insnow  ?  Art  thou  Winslow  ?  Yes.  Then 
he  doubled  these  words,  maire  neen  wonekanet  naimen 
6 


02  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1623 

WinsnowJ'  *  O  Winslow,  I  shall  never  see  you  again  ? 
Winslow  then  desired  Hobomak  to  tell  him,  that  the 
governor  was  grieved  to  learn  of  his  sickness,  and  be- 
ing unable  to  come  himself,  he  had  sent  him  with  some 
comfortable  things  for  his  relief,  and  gave  him  some 
conserve  on  the  point  of  a  knife.  With  much  difficul- 
ty he  got  this  through  his  teeth,  and  swallowed  a  little, 
which  he  had  not  done  for  the  two  last  days.  Winslow 
next  endeavored  to  cleanse  his  mouth  from  filth,  with 
which  it  was  excessively  loaded,  and  his  tongue  so 
much  swollen  as  to  impede  his  swallowing.  He  con- 
tinued his  kind  attention  to  his  patient,  repeating  his 
application,  till,  within  an  hour,  all  appearances  were 
favorable,  and  he  soon  obtained  some  sleep. 

IVJr.  Winslow  now  proposed  to  send  a  messenger  to 
Plymouth  for  a  further  supply  of  such  articles  as  he 
required,  with  which  the  chief  was  delighted,  and  soon 
despatched  a  messenger.  Jn  the  mean  time,  Winslow 
made  him  some  broth  of  corn  meal,  boiled  with  sassa- 
fras root  and  strawberry  leaves,  which  he  relished. 
He  requested  Winslow  the  next  day  to  take  his  piece 
and  kill  him  some  fowl,  and  make'  him  some  broth. 
The  sachem  derived  great  benefit  from  the  kindness 
of  Mr.  Winslow,  of  which  he  and  all  his  people  were 
truly  sensible,  and  expressed  their  sincere  gratitude. 
He  exclaimed,  now  I  see  the  English  are  my  friends, 
and  love  me,  and  whilst  I  live  I  never  will  forget  this 
kindness  they  have  shown  me.  He  earnestly  desired 
tliat  Winslow  would  visit  the  sick  people  in  the  town, 
and  wash  their  mouths  also,  and  give  to  each  of  them 
some  of  the  same  good  things  which  he  had  given  to 
him.  Winslow  and  Hampden,  on  taking  their  departure, 
received  the  blessings  of  the  king  and  his  people. 
When  about  to  depart,  Massasoit  privately  informed 
Hobomak,  that  there  was  an  extensive  combination  of 
Indians  for  the  destruction  of  Weston's  colony  ;  that 
the  Massachusetts  had  drawn  a  great  number  of 
sachems   into  the   confederacy;  and   that  during  his 


1623]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  63 

sickness  he  had  been  earnestly  solicited  to  join  them, 
but  he  had  refused,  and  forbid  his  people  to  be  influ- 
enced by  them.  He  advised  that  the  Massachusetts 
should  be  immediately  attacked  and  cut  off,  as  the 
only  way  to  avert  the  threatened  danger.  If  the  En- 
glish regard  their  own  safety,  let  thtm  strike  the  first 
blow,  for  after  the  settlers  at  VVessagusset  had  been 
killed,  it  would  be  too  late  for  the  Plymouth  people 
to  withstand  so  many  enemies.  Corbitant  earnestly 
desired  that  Winslow  and  Hampden  would  lodge  one 
night  with  him  at  Metiapoiset,  on  their  way  to  Ply- 
mouth. They  complied  with  this  request,  and  were 
much  entertained  with  his  merry  humor  and  jocose 
conversation.  He  asked  if  he  were  sick  and  should 
send  word  to  Plymoutl^  the  governor  would  send  him 
physic,  and  whether  Mr.  Winslow  should  visit  him  ;  and 
ha-.ifi^  ansv^cred  in  the  affirmative,  he  returned  his 
thanks.  He  inquired  of  Winslow,  how  he  dared  to 
come,  beiiig  but  two  men,  so  far  into  the  country? 
*  Winslow  replied,  that  his  heart  was  upright  towards 
them,  that  he  had  no  fear  in  coming  amongst  them. 
But,  said  Ci^i  bitant,  if  your  heart  be  so  pure,  and  it 
produce  such  fruits,  why  when  we  come  to  Plymouth 
are  the  mouths  of  your  pieces  presented  towards  us  ? 
This,  said  Winslow,  is  an  honor  whicli  it  is  our  custom 
to  bestow  on  our  best  friends.  But,  shaking  his  head, 
he  answered,  that  he  liked  not  such  salutations.  He 
next  inquired  into  the  reason  of  asking  grace  and  return- 
ing thanks  before  and  after  eating.  Winslow  answer- 
ed that  all  the  good  things  of  this  life  came  from  God, 
and  it  is  proper  that  we  should  crave  his  blessing  and 
express  our  thankfulness  on  all  such  occasions;  to  which 
he  assented.  The  gentlemen  left  Corbitant's  dwelling 
much  gratified  with  their  entertainment. 

March  23c?.-— This  being  their  annual  court  day,  the 
governor  laid  before  the  whole  company  the  evidence 
which  he  had  obtained  of  the  hostile  combinaiion  of  the 
several  tribes  of  Indians  against  the  settlement  at  Wes- 


^  HISTORY    OF    FLYMOUTH.  [1623 

sagnsset.  It  was  resolved,  that  Captain  Standish  should 
take  with  him  as  many  men  as  he  should  deem  neces- 
sary to  encounter  all  the  Indians  in  Massachusetts  Bay 
— that  he  should  disclose  his  designs  to  Weston's  peo-  | 
pie,  and  secure  Wattawamat,  a  bold  and  bloody  war- 
rior, and  bring  home  his  head. 

Captain  Standish  would  take  but  eight  men  for  this 
service,  besides  Hobomak,  lest  he  should  excite  sus- 
picion. On  his  arrival,  his  designs  were  suspected. 
An  Indian  said  he  saw  by  his  eyes  that  he  was  angry 
in  his  heart,  and,  therefore,  believed  that  their  plot 
was  discovered.  Pecksuot,  a  bold-spirited  Indian,  and 
a  Pinese,  that  is,  counsellor  and  wai;rior,  said  to  Ho- 
bomak, that  he  understood  that  the  Captain  had  come 
to  kill  him  and  the  rest  of  the  tribe.  Tell  him,  said  he, 
we  know  it,  but  fear  him  not;  let  him  begin  when  he 
dare,  he  will  not  take  us  unawares.  Many  of  them 
would  often  whet  and  sharpen  their  knives,  and  use  in- 
sulting speeches  and  gestures  before  his  face.  They 
were  in  the  habit  of  wearing  knives  suspended  at  the  * 
breast,  in  sheaths  tied  about  the  neck.  Wattawamat 
bragged  of  the  excellency  of  his  knife,  having  on  the 
handle  a  woman's  face  ;  but  he  said  he  had  another  at 
home,  with  which  he  had  killed  both  French  and  En- 
glish, having  a  man's  face  on  it,  and  these  two  must 
marry,  and  by  and  by  it  shall  see  and  it  shall  eat,  but  not 
speak.  Pecksuot,  being  a  large  man,  said,  that  though 
Standish  were  a  great  Captain,  he  was  but  a  little  man, 
but  himself,  though  no  sachem,  yet  was  a  man  of  great 
strength  and  courage.  Standish,  though  high-spirited 
and  irritable,  submitted  patiently  to  these  abusive  prov- 
ocations, till  a  favorable  opportunity  should  occur. 
The  next  day  the  valiant  Captain  found  means  to  get 
Pecksuot,  Wattawamat,  and  a  third  Indian,  with  Wat- 
tawamat's  brother,  eighteen  years  old,  an  insulting  vil- 
lain, into  a  room,  and  having  about  an  equal  number 
of  his  own  men,  he  made  the  door  fast,  and  gave  the 
signal,  beginning  himself  with  Pecksuot  5   he  snatched 


65 


16^3]  HISTORY    OF     PLYMOUTH. 

his  own  knife  from  his  neck,  a  struggle  for  life  ensued, 
the  knife  was  two  edged  and  the  savage  had  sharpened 
it  to  a  needle's  point.  This  was  instantly  plunged  uito 
his  bosom,  and  repeated  strokes  were  given,  the  victun 
resisting  to  the  last  breath.  Wattawamat  and  the  other 
Indians  were  also  slain  at  the  same  time,  and^ihe 
young  man  was  taken,  and  afterwards  hanged.  I  he 
struggle  was  awful,  but  without  noise.  Hobomak  was 
a  calm  spectator  of  the  appalling  scene;  after  it  was 
closed,  he  said  to  the  Captain,  yesterday  Pecksuot, 
brai>;ging  of  his  own  strength  and  stature,  said,  though 
you\vere  a  great  Captain  yet  you  were  but  a  little 
man ;  but  to  day  I  see  you  are  big  enough  to  ay  him 
on  the  ground.  Two  more  Indians  were  slain  by 
Weston's  men.  Proceeding  to  another  place,  Standish 
killed  an  Indian  ;  and  afterwards  he  met  a  file  of  sava- 
ges which  he  encountered,  and,  after  a  skirmish,  they 
fled  into  a  swamp ;  he  challenged  the  sachem  to  a  sin- 
gle combat,  but  he  refused. 

Weston's  people,  now  seeing  their  danger,  resolved 
to  quit  their  plantation,  and  requested  the  assistance  of 
Captain  Standish  in  conveying  them  to  the  fishing  ves- 
sels at  Munbiggin,  hoping  to  find  a  passage  to  i.ng- 
land.  The  Captain  told  them  that  he  should  not  leel  him- 
self in  danger  to  reside  there  with  fewer  men  than  their 
number,  but  at  their  desire,  he  would  furnish  them 
with  corn  sufficient  for  their  subsistence,  til!  they  could 
arrive  at  the  fishing  vessels,  although  it  would  almost 
exhaust  their  store,  and  stint  them  for  seed  corn,  bee- 
ins;  them  under  sail  in  their  own  vessel,  and  clear  ot 
Massachusetts  Bay,  he  returned  to  Plymouth  m  his 
own  shallop,  bringing  with  him  a  few  men  that  prefer- 
red a  residence  in  Plymouth.  Thus,  within  one  year, 
was  the  settlement  at  Wessagusset  broken  up,  and  the 
worthless  rabble  dispersed. 

Captain  Standish,   on  his  return,  brought  with  him 
the  head  of  Wattawamat,  as  directed,  and  it  was  placed 
on  the  fort,  as  a  terror  to  the   Indians.     There  was  at 
6* 


66  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.       ^  [1623 

this  time  an  Indian  chained  to  the  floor  in  the  fort, 
having  been  detected  in  the  conspiracy  :  he  recognis- 
ed the  head,  and  was  exceedingly  terrified  :  he  ac- 
knowledged the  existence  of  the  plot,  but  not  his  own 
guilt.  He  entreated  earnestly  for  his  life,  which  was 
granted,  and  he  returned  with  a  message  of  caution  to 
his  brethren.  '  The  Indians  generally  who  had  been 
prepared  to  join  the  Massachusetts,  were  terrified  by 
these  acts  of  severe  execution.  They  forsook  their 
dwellings,  wandered  about  bewildered,  living  in  swamps 
and  deserts,  and  contracted  diseases,  of  which  many 
died.  Canancum,  sachem  of  Manomet,  Aspinet  of 
Nauset,  and  the  interesting  lyanough,  were  among 
the  victims  to  these  complicated  miseries.  When 
Rev.  Mr.  Robinson  received  the  news  of  these  transac- 
tions, he  wrote  to  the  church  at  Plymouth,  '  to  consider 
the  disposition  of  their  Captain,  who  was  of  a  warm 
temper.'  He  hoped  the  Lord  had  sent  him  among 
thenj  for  good,  if  they  used  him  right ;  but  he  doubt- 
ed whether  there  was  not  wanting  that  tenderness  of 
the  life  of  man,  made  after  God's  image,  which  was 
meet;  he  thought,  'it  would  have  been  happy  if 
they  had  converted  some,  before  they  had  killed 
any.'  These  sentiments  are  honorable  to  Mr.  Robin- 
son. They  indicate  a  generous  philanthropy,  which 
must  always  gain  our  affection,  and  should  ever  be 
cherished.  Still  the  transactions,  to  which  the  stric- 
tures relate,  are  defensible.  As  to  Standish,  Dr.  Bel- 
knap places  his  defence  on  the  rules  of  duty  imposed 
by  his  character,  as  the  military  servant  of  the  colony. 
The  government,  it  is  presumed,  will  be  considered  as 
acting  under  severe  necessity,  and  will  require  no 
apology,  if  the  reality  of  the  conspiracy  be  admitted, 
of  which  there  can  be  little  doubt.  It  is  certain,  that 
they  were  fully  persuaded  of  its  existence,  and,  with 
the  terrible  example  of  the  Virginia  massacre  in  fresh 
remembrance,  they  had  solemn  duties  to  discharge. 
The  existence  of  the  whole  settlement  was  at  hazard.' 
— Judge  Daviis  edit,  JYew  England  Memorial,  p.  91, 


1623]  HIbTORr    OF    PLYMOUTH.  67 

First  Patent.  The  first  patent  of  Plymouth  had  been 
taken  out  in  the  name  of  John  Pierce,  in  trust  for  the 
company  of  adventurers ;  but  when  he  saw  the   prom- 
lising  state  of  their  settlement,  and  the  favor  which  their 
success  had   obtained    for  them  with   the   council   for 
New  England,  he,   without  their   knowledge,  but  m 
their  name,  procured  another  patent  of  larger   extent, 
intending  to  keep  it  for  his  own  benefit,   and  hold  the 
adventurers  as  his  tenants,  to  sue  and   be  sued   at   his 
courts.     In  pursuance  of  this  design,  he,  in  the  autumn    , 
of  the  last  and  beginning  of  this  year,  made  repeated 
attempts  to   send  a  ship    to  New  England,  but  it  was 
forced  back  by  storms.     In  the  last  attempt   the  mar- 
iners, about  the  middle  of  February,  were  obliged  in  a 
terrible  storm  to  cut  away  their  main-mast,  and  return 
to  Portsmouth.     Pierce  was  then  on  board   with    luy 
souls.     After  these  successive  losses,  he  was  prevailed 
on  by  the  company  of  adventurers  to .  assign  to  them 
for  £500  the   patent,   which   had   cost  hira  but  i^.^O. 
The  soods,  with  the  charge  of  passengers  m  the  ship, 
cost  the   company  £640.     Another  ship  was  hired  to 
transport  the  passengers  and  goods ;  and  it   arrived   at 
Plymouth  in  July.     Soon  after  arrived  a  new  vessel  of 
44  tons,  which  the   company   had   built,  to   remam  m 
the  country  ;  both  brought  ^supplies  for  the  plantation 
and  about  sixty  passengers.' 

'  Francis  West  arrived  at  Plymouth  in  June,  with  a 
commission  to  be  admiral  of  New  England  with  power 
to  restrain  such  ships  as  came  either  to  fish  or  trade 
on  the  coast  without  license  from  the  New|^  England 
council;  but  finding  the  fishermen  too  stubborn  and 
strong  L  him,  he  sailed  for  Virginia  The  owners  of 
the  fishing  vessels  complaining  to  the  Par  lament  ot 
this  atten^^pted  restraint,  procured  an  order  that  fishmg 

^^ The  Ccbnlsts  were  essentially  benefited  by  a  vast 
abundance  of  bass,  caught  in  the  creeks  ;  ^n  so ^e  oc- 
casions, 1500  were  taken  at  one  tide,  when  these  fad- 


68  HISTORY    OF    PLTMOUTH.  [1623  1 


ed  they  resorted  to  the  never-failing  clam  banks.  Itt 
was  their  misfortune,  in  the  early  part  of  this  summer, , 
to  be  reduced  to  the  sev  erest  sufferings  by  a  scantiness  > 
of  provisions,  threatening  a  famine.  A  vessel  with  i 
supplies,  which  they  expected  in  the  spring,  was  obli- 
ged twice  to  put  back  by  stress  of  weather,  and  did 
not  arrive  till  August.  In  May,  they  planted  an  unusual 
quantity  of  Indian  corn,  but  it  was  so  ordered,  that  a 
drought  of  six  weeks  continuance  cut  off  all  their  fa- 
vorable prospects.  Until  the  middle  of  July,  the 
earth  was  as  ashes,  the  produce  scorched  as  before  a 
fire,  and  the  hopes  of  man  were  overthrown.  In  this 
extremity,  as  in  all  adverse  circumstances,  these  pious 
sufferers  invoked  the  God  of  heaven  for  relief  A 
day  of  humiliation  and  prayer  was  appointed  ;  the  morn- 
ing was  fair  and  the  sky  cloudless ;  their  fervent  re- 
ligious worship  was  continued  eight  or  nine  hours  with- 
out ceasing.  At  night  the  clouds  were  seen  to  gather, 
and  the  sky  was  overcast  ;  the  next  morning  they 
were  cheered  with  moderate  refreshing  showers,  and 
the  rains  continued  to  descend  at  intervals  for  fourteen 
days.  The  natives  were  struck  with  amazement. 
Hobomak,  during  the  continuance  of  the  drought,  ex- 
pressed his  grief  and  concern  lest  the  English  should 
lose  all  their  corn,  and  starve.  The  Indians,  said  he, 
can  live  on  fish.  But  after  the  rain  he  rejoiced  and 
said,  '  Now  I  see  Englishman's  God  is  a  good  God,  for 
he  hears  you  and  sends  rain,  and  without  storms  and 
tempests,  which  break  down  our  corn  ;  surely  he  is  a 
good  God.'  At  a  convenient  season  they  also  solem- 
nized a  day  of  public  thanksgiving  for  rain,  and  for  a 
supply  of  provisions  from  England.  '  By  the  time 
our  corn  is  planted,'  said  Bradford,  '  our  victuals  are 
spent,  not  knowing  at  night  where  to  have  a  bit  in  the 
morning,  and  have  neither  bread  nor  corn  for  three  or 
four  months  together;  yet  bear  our  wants  with  cheer- 
fulness, and  rest  on  Providence.'  The  devout  elder 
Brewster   lived   for   many    months   together   without 


1623]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  69 

bread,  and  chiefly  on  fish  and  clams,  yet,  with  this 
scanty  fare,  he,  with  his  family,  would  give  tlianks 
that  they  could  '  suck  of  the  abundance  of  the  seas 
and  of  the  treasures  hid  in  the  sand.'  In  winter,  much 
use  was  made  of  ground-nuts  instead  of  bread,  and 
wild  fowls  were  constantly  to  be  obtained  in  the  marsh- 
es and  creeks,  and  not  unfrequently  a  deer  was  brought 
from  the  forest,  which  was  divided  among  the  whole 
company.  It  has  been  stated  that  they  were  at  one 
time  reduced  to  a  single  pint  of  corn,  which  being 
equally  divided  gave  to  each  person  five  kernels,  which 
were  parched  and  eaten.  The  first  establishment  of 
the  planters  embraced  such  circumstances,  as  to  main- 
tain a  community  of  interest,  ns  respects  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  land,  and  the  product  was  necessarily 
thrown  into  the  common  slock.  By  the  articles  of 
agreement  with  the  merchant  adventurers  in  England 
the  personal  services  of  the  planters,  and  of  their 
wives  and  children,  were  estimated  at  a  stipulated  rate^ 
and  to  make  common  stock  with  property  advanced, 
either  by  them  or  their  adventurers.  But  this  year  it 
was  judged  advisable  to  change  the  system  imd  cre- 
ate an  individual  interest,  by  allowing  every  family 
the  product  of  its  labor  to  its  own  particular  use. 
Each  family  to  have  a  certain  parcel  of  land  in  propor- 
tion to  its  numbers,  on  the  condition  only  of  a  certain 
portion  of  the  corn  set  apart  at  the  harvest  for  those 
who  were  engaged  in  public  business  and  for  the  fish- 
ermen. This  arrangement  operated  as  a  stimulus  to 
individual  industry,  and  a  larger  quantity  of  corn  was 
planted  this  year  than  before. 

In  July  and  August,  two  ships,  the  Ann  and  the 
little  James,  arrived  with  supplies,  and  60  passengers, 
among  whom  were  Timothy  Hatherly,  George  Mor- 
ton, and  John  Jenney,  with  the  wives  and  children  of 
some  who  had  arrived  before.  By  these  ships  letters 
were  received  from  their  agent,  Mr.  Cushman,  and 
from  the  adventurers.     Mr.  Cushman  writes,  'Some 


70  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1623 

few  of  your  old  friends  are  come  ;  they  come  dropping 
to  yon,  and  by  degrees;  I  hope  ere  long  you  shall  en- 
joy them  all.'  The  adventurers  write,  '  Let  it  not  be 
grievous  to  you,  that  you  have  been  instruments  to 
break  the  ice  for  others,  who  come  after  with  less 
difficulty  ;  the  honor  shall  be  yours  to  the  world's  end. 
We  bear  you  always  in  our  breasts,  ar.d  our  hearty  af- 
fection is  towards  you  all,  as  are  the  hearts  of  hundreds 
more,  which  never  saw  your  faces,  who  doubtless  pray 
for  your  safety  as  their  own.' 

These   new  comers  were  extremely  affected   with 
the  miserable  condition  of  those  who  had  been  almost 
three  years  in   the  country.     An   interview  with  old    v 
friends  under  such   suffering  circumstances   was   truly   | 
appalling.     '  The  best  dish  we  could  present  them  with,'    ' 
says  governor  Bradford,  '  is  a  lobster  or  piece  of  fish, 
without  bread,  or  anything  else  but  a  cup  of  fair  spring 
water;   and  the  long  continuance  of  this  diet  with  our 
labors  abroad,  has  somewhat  abated   the  freshness  of 
our  complexions;  but  God  gives  us  health.' 

First  Jury. — It  appears  from  the  following  ordinance 
that  this  little  band  of  exiles  duly  appreciated  the  pri- 
vilege of  trial  by  jury. 

*lt  is  ordained,  this  17th  day  of  December,  A.  D. 
1623,  by  this  court,  then  h^ld,  that  all  criminal  facts, 
and  also  all  matters  of  trespass  and  debts  between  man 
and  man,  shall  be  tried  by  the  verdict  of  twelve  hon- 
est men,  to  be  impanneled  by  authority  in  form  of  a 
jury  upon  their  oaths.' — Colony  R(:co7'cIs. 

Under  August  14th  of  this  year,  Mr.  Prince  places 
the  fourth  marriage  in  the  settlement,  governor  Brad- 
ford to  Mrs.  Alice  Souihworth.  This  is  taken,  it  is 
said,  from  the  governor's  register.  A  more  particular 
account  will  be  given  under  the  year  1657. 

On  the  10th  of  September,  the  Ann  sailed  for  Lon- 
don, on  company  account,  laden  with  clapboards,  and 
all  the  beaver  and  other  furs  which  they  had  collected 
at  Plymouth.     Mr.  Edward  Winslow  went  passenger 


1624]  HISTOKV    OF    PLYMOUTH.  71 

in  the  Ann  '  to  inform  how  things  are,'  says  governor 
Bradford,  '  and  |)rociire  wliat  we  want.' 

1624. — Tiie  colonists  had  hitljerto  appointed  but 
one  assistant  to  ttie  jrovernor;  but  the  present  year,  by 
the  request  of  Mr.  Bradford,  four  others  were  added, 
and  to  the  governor  was  given  a  double  vote.  Gov- 
ernor liradlord  on  this  occasion  strongly  recorrjrnended 
a  rotation  in  the  office,  alleging  that  if  it  were  any 
honor  or  benefit,  otfjers  beside  hinriself  should  partake 
of  it  ;  if  it  were  a  burden,  others  sfiould  Ijeip  to  bear 
it.  But  he  was  notwithstanding  re-elected,  and  re- 
peatedly afterwards. 

On  the  request  of  tlie  peo[)le  to  the  governor  that 
they  might  have  some  land  for  permanent  use,  instead 
of  the  accustomed  assignment  by  annual  lot,  he  gave 
every  person  an  acre  for  himself  and  his  family,  as  near 
as  it  was  convenient  to  the  town.* 

Edward  Winslow,  having  been  sent  to  England, 
the  last  year,  as  an  agent  for  the  colony,  on  his  re- 
turn liome  brought  three  heifers  and  a  bull,  which  were 
the  first  rjcai  cattle  brought  to  Plymouth.  Tlie  settlers 
were  desiitute  of  fnilk  the  first  four  years.  Mr.  Wins- 
low  was  absent  but  six  months,  and  brought  with  him 
provisions  and  clothing. 

When  we  consider  the  sequestered  situation  of  our 
})uritan  fatliers,  and  their  privations  and  sufferings,  it 
is  scarcely  credible  that  a  sfiirit  of  enmity  should  sub- 
sist a'ialnsl  them  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic. 
Bui  such  was  the  fact ;  a  division  among  the  adventur- 
ers took  place,  a  party  of  them  were  dissatisfied  with 
the  affairs  of  the  colonists  ;  groundless  calumnies  were 
urged  against  them;  and  it  was  determined,  if  possible, 
to  prevent  Rev.  Mr.  Robinson  and  the  remainder  of 
his  church  from  coming  over,  alleging  that  their  narrow 

*  The  particular  Ic^cation  of  these  Jots  to  each  iri'Jivuiual  family 
refepecliviy,  may  he  firjund  in  Jiidj^e  IJaviw's  ettition  ol  the  Memo- 
rial, and  ii\so  in  Hon.  Mr.  Jiaylierf's  lJi»lorical  Memoir,  vol.  i.  page 
257. 


72r  HISTORY    OF    PLYxMOUTH.  [1624 

scheme  of  religious  polity  was  unfriendly  to  a  trading 
establishment.  With  Mr.  Winslow,  one  John  Lyford, 
a  preacher,  but  a  man  of  loose  morals,  was  sent  over  by 
some  of  the  adventurers.  This  man,  on  his  first  arrival, 
saluted  the  planters  ppparently  with  great  reverence  and 
humility,  bowing  and  cringing  in  a  very  unbecoming 
manner,  and  even  wept  when  blessing  '  God  that  had 
brought  him  to  see  their  faces.'  The  governor  treated 
him  with  all  respect,  and  admitted  him  into  his  councils 
with  Elder  Brewster  and  others.  He  soon  desired  to 
be  received  into  fellowship  with  their  church,  making 
a  confession  of  his  faith,  and  a  humble  acknowledg- 
ment of  his  former  sinful  courses,  and  blessed  God  for 
the  opportunity  of  disburdening  his  conscience,  he. 
It  was  not  long  before  he  was  observed  in  close  intima- 
cy with  one  John  Oldham,  a  man  of  turbulent  and  rest- 
less spirit,  and  the  mischievous  effects  of  this  associa- 
tion soon  became  manifest.  They  diffused  a  factious 
spirit  among  the  more  vicious  part  of  the  populace  who 
could  be  brought  in  opposition  to  the  colonists,  and  in 
aid  of  their  enemies  in  England.  Eyford  was  observ- 
ed to  be  much  engaged  in  writing  letters  to  go  by  the 
return  ship  to  England,  and  was  not  very  careful  to 
conceal  a  knowledge  of  their  contents  from  those  whom 
they  most  concerned.  It  was  even  boasted  openly, 
among  the  confidants  of  Lyford  and  Oldham,  that  their 
letters  would  effect  a  change  of  affairs  at  Plymouth. 
The  governor,  apprehensive  that  these  letters  would 
be  productive  of  evil  consequences,  should  they  reach 
their  destination  in  England,  thought  himself  bound 
to  intercept  them.  He  went  on  board  the  vessel  in 
the  harbor,  and,  on  representing  to  Capt.  William  Pierce, 
the  commander,  his  suspicions,  it  was  agreed  that  the 
letters  should  be  unsealed,  as  the  welfare- of  the  colony 
was  doubtless  deeply  involved  in  the  issue.  A  scene 
of  perfidy  was  now  disclosed,  making  it  evident  that 
they  were  scheming  a  total  subversion  of  the  civil  au- 
thority, and  of  the  church  government.     That  the  af- 


1624]  BISTORT    OF    rLYMOUTH.  'J'S 

\  fairs  of  the  colony  might  devolve  on  themselves.    Their 
letters  were  filled  with  base  invective,  and  false  accusa- 
tions against  both  church  and  state  in  the  new  colony. 
The  governor  deemed  it  proper  to  take  copies  of  these 
letter?;  but  of  some  of  the  most  palpably  obnoxious, 
he  retained  the  originals,  and  replaced  them  with  co- 
nies     The  breaking  the   seals  of  private  letters  may 
Lays  be  justified,  when  for  the  purpose  of  detecting 
a  treasonable   correspondence,  which  may  effect  the 
ru  n  of  a  community.'    Amongst  the  Ly  ord  letters  wa 
one  to  John  Pemberton,  a  minister  well  known  to  be 
inimical  to  the  colony,  and  in  this  letter  were  endosed 
<,opies  of  a  letter  from  a  gentleman  -  E"f  ^>"1  ^^  M^' 
Brewster,  and  of  another  from  i\Ir.  Wmslow  to  Rev 
Mr.  Robinson.     These  two  copies  were  taken  from  the 
original  sealed  letters  by  Lyford,  when  on  board  the 
•ship  while  laying  at  Gravesend,  bound  to  America. 

Governor  Bradford  remained  silent  respecting  the 
information  which  he  had  obtained,  but  kept  a  strict 
watch  over  the  conduct  of  the  culprits,  that  their  ad- 
herents and  their  designs  might  be   more  '^l«^''b'^  ^  i; 
covered.     Oldham  soon  become  obstreperous  refusing 
to  comply  with  his  military  duty   when  called  on  to 
watch  according  to  rule.     He  even  insulted  the  cap- 
Tah^and  attacked  him  with  a  knife,  and  ranted  furious- 
y  against  all  who  attempted  to  q^iet.'"'"-   .  "V;^^^ 
imprisoned,  and  a  slight  punis Im.ent  be."?  .nfl-ted   he 
made  confession   and   was  released.     Soon  aftet  this 
Lyford,  with  his  accomplices,  proceeded  to  extremity, 
b  defiance  of  the  ruling  authority    and   without  con- 
sulting the  governor,  church,  or  elder,  set  up  a  publ  c 
meeti'ng  apa^t  on  the  Lord's  day,  and  a.tempte     o  ad- 
minister the  sacrament.     In  this  crisis  of  aflTaus,  the 
"L  summoned   a  court  of  the  whole  co,n,,any, 
Ind  preferred  his  charges  against  Lyford  »"d  Oldhatn. 
With  audacious  face  they  denied  the  cha^S.^^' «°d '«- 
ouired  proof.     On  this  extraordinary  occasion,  gover- 
nor Bradford  expatiated  on  the  principal  objects  and 
7 


74  HISTORY    OF    PLMYOUTH.  [1624 

views  of  their  emigration  here,  the  toils  and  sufferings 
to  which  they  had  been  subjected,  that  they  might  en- 
joy the  ordinances  of  God  in  freedom  and  quietness. 
In  adverting  to  the  case  of  Lyford,  he  reminded  him 
that  he  had  not  participated  in  those  sufferings,  nor  in 
the  expense,  but  was  sent  over,  and,  with  his  large 
family,  received  kindly  and  supported  at  much  expense; 
and  now  to  plot  against  them  and  seek  their  ruin,  was 
most  unjust  and  perfidious.  Lyford  still  denied  the 
charge,  and  pretended  not  to  understand  the  language 
addressed  to  him.  The  governor  could  no  longer 
withhold  the  overwhelming  truth.  The  letters  from 
his  own  hand  were  now  produced,  and  where  is  the 
man  with  sufficient  effrontery  not  to  be  utterly  confound- 
ed ?  Oldham  began  to  be  furious,  and  to  rage  bitter- 
ly that  their  letters  had  been  intercepted.  He  endeav- 
ored to  excite  a  mutiny  among  the  people,  exhorting 
them  to  show  their  couiage,  that  now  was  the  time  to 
side  W'ith  him  in  open  rebellion,  and  he  would  stand  by 
them.  But  he  gained  not  a  man  ;  all  were  confounded 
and  even  the  seditiously  disposed  were  quelled  through 
fear.  The  governor  now  proceeded  to  reprove  Ly- 
ford for  his  base  hypocrisy  and  treachery  ;  in  abusing 
his  friends,  in  breaking  the  seals  of  private  letters  and 
taking  co[)ies  ;  and  at  this  time  he  caused  Lyford's 
letters  to  be  read  to  the  whole  company.  He  was  next 
reminded  of  his  confession  when  admitted  to  church- 
fellowship,  and  his  saying  at  that  time  that  he  did  not 
hold  himself  a  minister  till  he  could  have  a  new  call- 
ing for  that  purpose,  and  yet,  now  he  had  drawn  a  par- 
ty aside,  and,  without  acquainting  the  governor  or  the 
church,  he  was  about  to  administer  the  sacrament,  by 
virtue  of  his  former  calling.  He  only  replied,  that 
many  persons  had  complained  to  him  of  abuses,  but 
the  persons  he  named  denied  his  assertions.  At  length 
the  miscreant,  with  eyes  streaming  with  tears,  confes- 
sed '  that  be  feared  he  was  a  reprobate,  and  that  his 
sins  were  so  great  that  God  would  not  pardon  them  ; 


1624]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  75 

he  was  '  unsavory  salt,'  and  that  '  he  had  so  wronged 
them  that  he  could  never  make  thetn  amends  ;'  confes- 
sing '  all  he  had  written  against  them  was  false  and 
i naught,  both  for  motive  and  manner.' 
•  Both  of  these  men  were  convicted,  and  the  court 
sentenced  them  to  be  expelled  the  plantation.  Old- 
iham  to  depart  immediately,  though  his  wife  and  family 
had  liberty  to  tarry  all  winter,  or  till  he  could  rem:)ve 
them  comfortably.  Lyford  had  liberty  to  tarry  six 
months,  and  the  governor  intended  to  remit  his  punish- 
ment, if  his  repentance  proved  sincere.  He  acknovvl- 
ecLod  that  his  sentence  was  just,  far  less  than  he  de- 
served, and  afterwards  confessed  his  sin  before  the 
church  with  tears  in  abundance.  He  acknowledged 
that  he  had  slanderously  abused  the  people  expecting 
that  a  majority  would  side  with  him,  and  that  he  should 
gain  his  point,  and  he  now  blessed  God  that  his  designs 
were  frustrated.  He  confessed  himself  to  be  actuated 
by  pride,  vain-glory  and  self-love  ;  that  his  eyes  and 
his  ears  were  shut  against  all  good  ;  and  that  if  God 
should  make  him  a  vagabond  on  the  earth,  as  was  Cain, 
it  were  but  just.  Such  was  the  apparent  sincerity  of 
these  professions  of  sorrow  and  repentance,  that  many 
;  *  tender-hearted  persons,  had  pity  and  compassion  on 
j  him,  and  he  was  again  permitted  to  teach,  and  some 
i  were  willing  to  fall  on  their  knees  to  have  his  sentence 
remitted.' 

Can  it  be  credited,  that  in  less  than  three  months  af- 
ter his  conviction,  and  before  the  term  of  his  probation 
had  expired,  notwithstanding  all  his  tearful  confessions 
before  God  and  the  church,  he  should  be  found  guilty 
of  a  new  offence  ?  He  actually  wrote  another  slander- 
ous let^ter  to  his  abettors  in  England,  but  the  person  to 
whom  it  was  entrusted  delivered  it  to  the  governor. 
John  Oldham  departed  from  Plymouth  to  Nantasket, 
and  Lyford  accepted  of  an  invitation  to  be  the  minister 
of  Cape  Ann.  At  the  annual  election  in  March,  1625, 
Oldham  returned  to  Plymouth,  in  violation  of  his  sen- 
tence the  last  year,  which  prohibited  his  return  without 


76  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1624 

the  consent  of  the  Governor.  He  conducted  again  in 
such  a  factious  and  abusive  manner,  that  his  own  asso- 
ciates were  ashamed  to  be  seen  in  his  company,  andi 
it  became  necessary  to  confine  him,  till  some  punish- 
ment could  be  prepared  for  him.  He  was  made  to* 
run  the  gauntlet  through  a  double  file  of  armed  men, 
and  each  man  was  ordered  to  give  him  a  blow  as  he 
passed,  with  the  butt  end  of  his  musket,  saying  at  the 
same  time,  ^  go  and  mend  your  manners  f  he  was  then 
conducted  to  his  boat,  which  lay  at  the  water's  side  for 
his  departure. 

Oldham  afterwards  applied  himself  to  trade  at  Nan- 
tasket,  with  commendable  industry  and  good  success. 
He  undertook  a  voyage  to  Virginia,  and  while  in  immi- 
nent danger  of  shipwreck,  his  mind  was  deeply  impres- 
sed with  a  sense  of  his  evil  course  of  life,  and  he  made 
many  confessions  and  promises  of  amendment,  if  God 
should  spare  his  life,  and  these  vows  he  verified  by  a 
more  correct  course,  insomuch,  that  the  people  of  Plym- 
outh permitted  him  to  come  into  the  place,  whenever 
it  migfit  be  convenient.  Some  time  after,  while  on  a 
trading  voyage  at  Block  Island,  having  some  conten- 
tion with  the  Indians,  he  fell  a  sacrifice  to  their  bar- 
barity. As  to  Lyford,  Mr.  Winslow,  while  in  Eng- 
land, made  sucli  disclosures  of  his  conduct  while  in 
Ireland,  as  could  not  fail  to  confound  his  best  friends 
and  adherents ;  and  among  the  adventurers  he  was  final- 
ly condemned,  as  unfit  for  the  ministry.  After  suffer- 
ing many  disappointments  and  troubles,  he  went  to 
Nantasket,  then  to  Salem,  and  afterwards  to  Virginia, 
wliere  he  sickened  and  died.  The  affair  of  Lyford 
and  Oldham  is  narrated  by  Secretary  Morton,  in  lan- 
guage of  great  severity  if  npt  prejudice,  and  some  sug- 
gestions of  caution  in  its  perusal  are  found  in  other  au- 
thors. 

Captain  Smith's  statistical  account  of  Plymouth, 
at  this  period  is  thus  condensed  in  Prince's  Chronology,. 
'At  New  Plymouth,  there  are  now  about  180  persons^ 


1625]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  77 

some  cattle  and  goats,  but  many  swine  and  poultry 
Thirty-two  dwelling-houses  ;  the  town  is  impaled  about 
a  mile  in  compass.'* 

'  On  a  high  mount  in  the  town  they  have  a  fort  well 
built  of  wood,  lime  and  stone,  and  a  lair  watch-house ; 
the  place  it  seems  is  healthful,  for  in  tlie  three  last 
years,  notwithstanding  their  great  want  of  most  neces- 
saries, hath  not  one  died  of  the  first  planters  ;  and  this 
year  they  have  freighted  a  sbip  of  180  tons.  The  gen- 
eral stock  already  employed  by  the  adventurers  to  Plym- 
outh is   about  seven  hundred  pounds.' 

In  the  same  ship  which  brought  i\Ir.  Lyford  to 
Plymouth,  came  a  carpenter  and  salt  maker,  both 
sent  by  the  adventurers.  '  The  carpenter,'  says  gov- 
ernor Bradford,  '  is  an  honest  and  very  industrious  man, 
quickly  built  us  two  very  good  and  strong  shallops, 
with  a  great  and  strong  lighter,  and  had  hewn  timber 
for  two  ketches  ;  but  this  was  spoilt  ;  for  in  the  beat 
of  the  season  of  the  year,  he  falls  into  a  fever  and 
dies,  to  our  grief,  loss  and  sorrows'  The  salt  man  he 
describes  as  ignorant,  foolish,  and  self-willed,  and  pro- 
duced nothing.  On  the  5th  of  August,  Mr.  Thomas 
Prince,  who  was  afterwards  governor,  w'as  married  to 
Miss  Patience  Brewster,  being  the  ninth  marriage 
which  had  been  solenmized  in  th^ colony. 

Great  dissensions  having  prevailed  among  the  mer- 
chant adventurers  in  London,  and  being  under  consid- 
erable pecuniary  embarrassments,  the  company  this 
year,  1625,  dissolved,  and  the  major  part  of  its  mem- 
bers relinquished  all  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  com- 
pany, and  lelt  the  colonists  to  provide  for  themselves. 
The   colonists  were,   this  year,  so  successful  in  their 

*  This  statement  cannot  be  correct ;  an  impalement  consists  of  large 
logs  or  posts  set  into  the  «;round,  so  noar  together  that  nothino  can 
enter  between  them,  and  generally  they  are  about  ten  feet  hi2;h 
An  impalement  of  a  mile  would  be  out  of  proportion  to  the  number 
of  people,  and  the  labor  would  exceed  their  abilities,  with  their 
other  cares  and  avocations, 
7* 


78  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [16^ 

crops  of  Indian  corn,  that  they  were  overstocked,  and 
wis-hing  to  convert  part  of  it  to  some  profit  in  trade, 
and  having  no  other  vessels  than  two  shallops,  they 
laid  a  deck  on  one  of  them,  and  sent  her,  laden  with 
corn,  to  Kennebec.  Although  the  shallop  was  pro- 
vided with  a  deck  amid-ship  to  keep  the  corn  dry,  yet 
the  men  were  exposed  to  the  weather  without  shelter. 
Having  no  seaman  for  this  service,  Mr.  Winslow  and 
some  of  the  '  old  standards,'  performed  this  voyage,  in 
a  tempestuous  season,  on  the  approach  of  winter. 
They  disposed  of  the  corn  to  advantage,  and  returned 
with  seven  hundred  pounds  of  beaver^  besides  other 
furs,  and  at  the  same  time  opened  a  profitable  trade 
for  future  occasions. 

The  merchant  adventurers  at  London,  having  sent 
two  ships  on  a  trading  voyage  to  New  England,  one  of 
them  returning,  laden  with  cod-fish,  and  having  on 
board  also  eight  hundred  pounds  of  beaver,  with  other 
furs,  and  the  other  also  laden  with  dry  fish,  both  sailed 
from  Plymouth,  the  larger  towing  the  smaller  ship  till 
they  reached  the  Englisli  channel,  when,  being  cast  off, 
she  was  surprised  by  a  Turkish  man-of-war,  by  whom 
she  was  captured  and  carried  Into  Sallee,  where  the 
master  and  his  men  were  made  slaves.  In  the  larger 
ship,  Capt.  Miles  Stfmdish  went  over  as  agent  in  be- 
half of  the  plantation,  in  reference  to  some  afl^airs  de- 
pending between  them  and  the  adventurers.  He  pro- 
videntially escaped  the  fate  of  those  in  the  other  ves- 
sel. 

1626. — In  April  of  this  year,  Caot.  Miles  Standish 
reiured  from  England.  He  was  the  bearer  of  tidings 
which  occasioned  universal  grief  and  sorrow.  It  was 
the  death  of  the  Rev.  John  Robinson,  the  beloved 
pastor  of  the  Leyden  and  Plymouth  church.  Mr. 
Robinson  died  at  Leyden,  March  1st,  1625,  in  the  fif- 
tieth year  of  his  age.  A  greater  loss  could  not  have 
been  sustained  in  their  circumstances.  A  particular 
detail  of  the  character  of  this  great  and  good  man  will 


1626]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  79 

be  found  under  the  head  of  Ecclesiastical  History,  in 
this  volume.  His  widow  and  children  came  over  to 
Plymouth  colony.  His  son,  Isaac,  lived  to  the  age  of 
ninety.  '  A  venerable  man,'  says  Mr.  Prince,  '  whom 
I  have  often  seen.'  He  left  male  posterity  in  the 
county  of  Barnstable.  Another  instance  of  death 
very  afflictive  to  the  colonists,  was  announced  by  cap- 
tain Standish.  It  was  Mr.  Robert  Cushman,  one  of 
their  most  valued  friends.  Mr.  Cushman  had  resided* 
in  England  since  his  return  from  Plymouth  in  1621. 
He  was  a  man  of  estimable  character,  and  rendered 
essential  service  to  the  colonists.  When  at  Plymouth 
in  1621,  although  a  layman,  he  preached  a  sermon 
'  on  the  sin  and  danger  of  self  love.'  This  was  the 
first  sermon  ever  preached  in  New  England  :  accord- 
ing to  tradition,  the  spot  where  it  was  delivered  was 
the  common  house  of  the  plantation,  on  the  southerly 
side  of  Leyden  street.  It  was  printed  in  London  in 
1622,  and  afterwards  reprinted  in  Boston,  in  1724. 
Another  edition  was  puhlished  at  Plymouth  in  1785, 
with  an  appendix,  giving  some  account  of  the  author. 
In  1822  this  celehrated  sermon  was  again  published  at 
Stockbridge,  with  the  appendix. 

In  governor  Bradford's  letter-book,  a  fragment  of 
which  is  preserved,  is  a  letter  from  four  of  the  adven- 
turers written  eighteenth  December,  1624,  said  by 
Governor  Bradford  to  be  in  Mr.  Cushman's  hand-writ- 
ing. It  gives  much  insight  into  their  affairs,  especial- 
ly relative  to  their  connexion  with  the  adventurers,  and 
evidences  the  good  sense  and  excellent  spirit  of  the 
writer.  He  wrote  about  the  same  time  to  governor 
Bradford.  In  the  same  letter- book,  is  a  copy  of  gov- 
ernor Bradford's  reply,  dated  June  9th,  1625,  probably 
sent  by  Captain  Standish.  In  his  letters  to  governor 
Bradford,  Mr.  Cushman  expresses  a  hope  of  coming 
to  them  in  one  of  the  next  ships.  His  son  Thomas, 
at  that  time  a  youth,  whom  he  brought  with  him  in  the 
Fortune,  in  1621,  was  then  in  the  family  of  governor 


80  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1627 

Bradford.  *  I  must  entreat  you,'  says  he  in  his  last 
letter,  '  to  have  a  care  of  my  son  as  your  own,  and  I 
shall  rest  bound  unto  you.'  The  request,  we  can  have 
no  doubt,  was  sacredly  regarded.  This  son  became 
a  useful  member  of  the  society  in  which  he  was  nur- 
tured from  childhood.  He  was  chosen  ruling  elder  of 
the  church  in  1649,  after  the  death  of  Elder  Brewster. 
He  married  Mary,  a  daughter  of  Mr.  AUerton,  and 
<iied  1691,  aged  eighty-four.  A  tombstone  was  erect- 
ed to  his  memory  in  1715,  by  the  church  and  congre- 
gation at  Plymouth.  He  left  several  children.  One 
of  them,  Isaac,  was  the  first  minister  of  Plympton. 
His  widow  survived  till  1699.  She  is  the  person 
mentioned  by  Hutchinson,  vijI.  ii.  p.  408,  as  the  only 
one  of  the  first  comers  surviving  in  1698.  'Descend- 
ants from  this  respectable  stock  are  numerous,  espe- 
cially in  Plympton,  Duxbury  and  Middleliorough.' 
Memorial.  In  the  will  of  Elder  Thomas  Ciishman, 
dated  October  22d5  1690,  he  mentions  his  sons  Thom- 
as, Isaac,  Elkanah,  and  E'eazer.  Also  his  wife  Mary, 
and  his  daughter  Sarah  Hook,  and  Lydia  Harlow. 
His  son  Thomas,  Isaac,  and  Elkanah  settled  in  Plymp- 
ton and  died  there,  and  probably  Eleazer  also. 

l627.-For  greater  convenience  oftrade,  the  Plymouth 
colonists  this  summer  built  a  small  pinnace  at  Manomet, 
a  place  twenty  miles  to  the  south  of  Plyniouth,  (Buz- 
zard's Bay,)  to  which  place  they  transported  tlieir  goods. 
Having  taken  them  up  a  creek  within  four  or  five 
miles,  they  carried  them  over  land  to  the  vessel,  and 
thus  avoided  the  dangerous  navigation  around  Cape 
Cod,  and  made  their  voyag-  to  the  southward  in  far 
less  time,  and  with  much  less  hazard.  For  the  safe- 
ty of  their  vessel  and  goods,  they  also  built  a  house, 
and  kept  some  servants  ihere,  who  planted  corn,  rais- 
ed hogs,  &nd  were  always  ready  to  go  out  with  the 
bark,  and  this  became  f  ^  establishment  of  some  im- 
portance. In  the  time  of  the  late  war  with  Great 
Britain,  the  editor  of  the  Memorial  says  he  had  an  op- 
portunity to  witness  at  Sandwich  a  revival  of  this  mode 


1627]  HiSTORr  OF  Plymouth.  81 

of  conveyance,  to  which  the  inhabitants  of  Cape  Cod 
found  it  convenient  to  resort  for  the  purpose  of  avoid- 
ing the  risk  of  capture  by  the  enemy's  cruisers  on  the 
coast. 

At  this  period  the  colonists  received  numerous  let- 
ters from  their  affectionate  friends  and  brethren  at 
Leyden.  They  were  sorrowing  under  the  irreparable 
loss  of  their  beloved  pastor,  and  pining  with  little  hope 
for  a  re-union  with  their  christian  brethren  at  Plymouth. 
They  were  poor  and  dejected,  and  the  society  was 
hastening  to  a  dissolution.  The  event  of  a  re-union 
was  equally  desirable  on  the  part  of  their  friends  at 
Plymouth.  Governor  Bradford  and  his  associates 
were  determined  to  make  every  possible  effort  to  effect 
the  object ;  no  pecuniary  sacrifices  were  deemed  too 
great.  Mr.  Allerlon  had  been  sent  several  times,  as 
agent  to  London,  to  negociate  a  settlement  of  all  pe- 
cuniary concerns  with  the  company  of  adventurers, 
and  to  solicit  assistance  in  behalf  of  the  Leyden  church. 
He  returned  in  the  spring  of  this  year,  after  a  success- 
ful execution  of  his  commission,  and  was  so  fortunate 
as  to  purchase  all  the  interest  of  the  company  of  ad- 
venturers for  the  planters  at  Plymouth. 

This  year  it  was  deemed  expedient  to  distribute 
portions  of  land  to  each  person,  allotting  to  each  twen- 
ty acres  of  arable  land,  five  acres  in  breadth  by  the 
water  side  and  four  acres  In  length,  in  addition  to  the 
acre  of  homstead  and  garden  plot,  formerly  allotted. 
There  was  also  a  division  of  the  cattle  and  goats.  In 
the  edition  of  the  Memorial,  by  Judge  Davis,  page 
389,  will  be  found  a  particular  allotment  of  cows 
and  goats  to  individual  families,  and  by  that  list  the 
state  of  several  families,  may  be  determined.  The  di- 
vision of  cows  and  goats  took  place  soon  after  the  con- 
nexion of  the  Plymouth  settlers  with  the  company  of 
merchant  adventurers  in  England  was  dissolved.  In 
1624,  Mr.  James  Shirley,  merchant  of  London,  and 
one  of  the  adventurers,  a  warm  friend  to  the  pilgrims, 


82  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1627 

gave  a  heifer  to  the  plantation  to  begin  a  stock  for  the 
poor.  In  1638,  the  townsmen  of  New  Plymouth  met 
at  the  governor's,  all  the  inhabitants  from  Jones'  river 
to  Eel  river,  respecting  the  disposition  of  the  stock  of 
cows  given  by  Mr.  Shirley.  The  amount  of  the  stock 
was  very  consideratlle,  and  a  respectable  committee 
was  appointed  to  dispose  of  the  same.  In  one  of  his 
letters,  this  benevolent  gentleman  says  ,  '  If  you  put  off 
any  bull  calves,  or  when  they  grow  to  bigger  stature,  1 
pray  let  that  money  or  money's  worth  purchase  liose 
and  shoes  for  the  poor  at  Plymouth,  or  such  necessa- 
ries as  they  may  want ;  and  this  I  pray  make  known 
to  all.'  '  All  this  gentleman's  letters,'  observes  the  ed- 
itor of  the  Memorial,  '  exhibit  the  most  estimable  dis- 
positions. When  Plymouth  shall  distinguish  its  streets 
and  public  places  with  the  name  of  ancient  worthies, 
that  of  Shirley  should  not  be  forgotten.' 

In  March  of  this  year,  messengers  arrived  at  Plym- 
outh from  the  governor  of  the  Dutch  plantation  at  Hud- 
son's river,  with  letters  dated  at  Manhattas,  Fort  Am- 
sterdam, March  9ih,  1627,  and  written  in  Dutch 
and  French.  In  these  letters,  the  Dutch  congratula- 
ted the  English  on  their  prosperous  and  commendable 
enterprise,  tendered  their  good  will  and  friendly  ser- 
vices, and  offered  to  open  and  maintain  with  them  a 
commercial  intercourse.  The  governor  and  council  of 
Plymouth  sent  an  obliging  answer  to  the  Dutch,  ex- 
pressing a  thankful  sense  of  the  kindness  which  they 
had  received  in  their  native  country,  and  a  grateful  ac- 
ceptance of  the  offered  friendship.  The  letters  were 
signed  by  Isaac  De  Razier,  Secretary. 

In  September,  of  the  same  year,  the  Plymouth  plant- 
ers received  a  visit  from  De  Razier.  Having  ar- 
rived at  the  Plymouth  trading-house  at  Manomet,  ac- 
cording to  his  request,  governor  Bradford  sent  a  boat 
for  him,  and  he  arrived  at  Plymouth,  in  the  Dutch 
style,  with  a  noise  of  trumpeters.  He  was  a  chief 
merchant,  and  second  to  the  governor. 


1627]  HISTORY  or  Plymouth.  8S 

The  people  of  Plymouth  entertained  him  and  his 
company  several  days,  and  some  of  them  accompanied 
him  on  his  return  to  Manomet,  and  purchased  of  him 
some  commodities,  especially  tvampum  peack,  or  wam- 
pum. The  Plymouth  settlers  were  unacquainted  with 
wampum,  as  an  article  of  commerce,  but,  from  the  in- 
formation received  from  the  Dutch,  they  were  induced 
to  purchase  the  article  of  the  Indians,  to  the  value  of 
£50,  for  traffic ;  it  was  unsaleable  the  two  first  years  ; 
but  afterwards  became  a  very  important  article  of 
trade,  especially  with  the  inland  Indians,  who  did  not 
make  it.  '  Wompompague,'  says  Mr.  Gookin, '  is  made, 
artificially,  of  a  part  of  the  wilks  shell ;  the  black  is 
double  the  value  of  the  white.  It  is  made  principally 
by  the  Narraganset  and  Long  Island  Indians.  Upon 
the  sandy  flats  and  shores  of  those  coasts,  the  wilk 
shells  are  found.'  In  Roger  Williams'  key,  wampum 
is  considered  as  the  Indian  money,  and  is  described  in 
the  twenty-fourth  chapter  of  that  interesting  tract. 
*  One  fathom  of  this,  their  stringed  money,  is  worth 
five  shillings.  Their  white  money  they  call  wampum, 
which  signifies  white ;  their  black,  suckawhock,  suki 
signifying  black.^  The  editor  of  the  Memorial  says  he 
received  from  the  late  professor  Peck,  a  reply  to  some 
inquiries  on  this  subject.  He  was  satisfied  that  wam- 
pum was  made  from  the  shell  of  the  paquawhock,  or 
quawhaug.  A  traveller  in  this  country  in  the  year 
1760,  describing  his  journey  from  Newark  to  New 
York,  by  the  way  of  Staten  Island,  has  the  following 
remark  :  '  In  my  way,  I  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing 
the  method  of  making  wampum.  It  is  made  of  the 
clam  shell ;  a  shell  consisting  within  of  two  colors, 
purple  and  white,  and  in  form  not  unlike  a  thick  oys- 
ter shell.  The  process  of  manufacturing  it  is  very  sim- 
ple. It  is  just  clipped  to  a  proper  size,  which  is  that 
I  of  a  small  oblong  parallelopiped,  then  dulled,  and  af- 
terwards ground  to  a  round  smooth  surface,  and  pol- 
ished.    The  purple   wampum  is  much  more  valuable 


S4  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1629^ 

than  the  white ;  a  very   small  part  of  the  shell  being 
of  that  color.' 

1628. — The  Plymouth  company  had,  for  some  time,.! 
been  endeavoring  to  obtain  a  patent  of  a  tract  of  landi 
on  the   Kennebec   river,   as  a   place  of  trade.     This- 
year  their  object  was  accomplished,  and   they   erected! 
a  house  high  up  the  river,  and  furnished  it  with  corn  i 
and  other  commodities,  for  a  market.     This  year  died  I 
Mr.   Richard   Warren,  one  of  the   passengers  in  the 
Mayflower,  and  a  man  of  great  usefulness  during  the 
sufferings  and  difficulties  of  the  first  settlement.     '  Eli- 
zabeth Warren,  the  widow   of  Richard   Warren,  sur- 
vived her  husband  about  45  years.     She  died  in  1675, 
aged  90.     Honorable   mention   is   made  of  her  in  the 
Plymouth  records.     They  had  seven  children,  two  sons 
and  five  daughters,  all  of  whom  married  in   Plymouth, 
excepting  Abigail,  the  youngest  daughter,  who  married 
Anthony  Snow,  of  Marshfield.  Richard  Warren  stands 
at  the   head  of  the  ninth  share  in  the  division  of  cattle 
in  1627.     His   location   of  lands   was  near  Eel  river, 
and  the  farm  has  remained  in  possession  of  his  descend- 
ants till  within  about  three   years.     The  late  Honora- 
ble James  Warren,  of  Plymouth,  was  a  descendant  from 
Richard  Warren. 

This  year  commenced  the  troubles  occasioned  by 
the  eccentric  Thomas  Morton,  of  famous  *  Merry 
Mount '  and  *  May  Pole  '  memory  ;  bnt  as  this  '  Lord 
of  Misrule  '  was  not  an  inhabitant  of  Plymouth,  and  as 
his  affairs  were  transacted  chiefly  at  Mount  Wollaston, 
(Braintree,)  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  New  England 
Memorial  for  particulars. 

In  1628,  or  1629,  some  Plymouth  people,  putting 
into  Nantasket,  met  with  a  Mr.  Ralph  Smith,  in  a  very 
miserable  condition,  but  finding  him  to  be  a  sober-mind- 
ed man,  and  having  officiated  as  a  minister,  they,  by 
his  earnest  desire,  brought  him  to  Plymouth,  where 
he  was  settled  as  their  first  minister.  See  Ecclesias- 
tical History. 


1630]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOtTTH.  8B 

1629. — This  year,  Dr.  Fuller,  one  of  the  first  comers 
over,  a  skilful  physician  as  well  as  pious  man,  was 
called  to  visit  some  sick  people  at  Salem,  as  a  malig- 
nant disease  prevailed  there  among  a  company  of  emi- 
grants from  England,  under  the  care  of  Mr.  John  En- 
dicott,  afterwards  governor. 

Governor  Bradford,  and  some  others  from  the  church 
tDf  Plymouth,  went  to  Salem,  to  assist  in  the  ordination 
of  Mr.  Skelton,  pastor,  and  Mr.  Higginson,  teacher,  or 
ruling  elder.  Governor  Bradford,  and  the  other  mes- 
sengers from  the  church  of  Plymouth,  gave  them  the 
right  hand  of  fellowship. 

In  August  of  this  year,  thirty-five  families  of  the 
church  of  Ley  den  arrived  at  Plymouth.  They  were 
received  with  great  joy,  and  the  expenses  of  their  trans- 
portation were  paid  gratuitously  by  the  undertakers, 
and  they  were  subsisted  out  of  the  public  stores  for 
more  than  a  year.  Mr.  Allerton,  who  made  a  third 
voyage  to  England  in  the  autumn,  of  1628,  as  agent 
for  Plymouth,  returned  this  year,  in  the  month  of 
August.  He  was  greatly  useful  in  assisting  the  fami- 
lies of  the  Ley  den  church  in  their  removal  to  this 
place. 

The  Plymouth  colony  received  this  year  a  new 
charter,  with  the  great  seal  of  James  I.  dated  January 
13th,  1629.  The  grant  is  to  William  Bradford  and 
his  associates.  It  recites  the  rise  and  progress  of  the 
plantation,  and  that  it  had  increased  to  300  people. 
The  charter  also  includes  a  tract  of  land  thirty  miles 
square  on  Kennebeck  river.  This  charter,  with  the 
box  in  which  it  came,  is  now  in  the  office  of  the  regis- 
ter of  deeds  in  this  town. 

1630. — Another  portion  of  the  Ley  den  people,  about 
sixty  in  number,  arrived  on  the  8th  of  May.  Their 
transportation,  amounting  to  £550,  was  paid  by  the 
undertakers.  'The  generosity  of  the  chiefs  of  the 
colony  to  their  Leyden  brethren,'  says  Mr.  Baylies, 
^  is  unparalleled.  They  almost  deprived  themselves 
8 


S6  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1632! 

of  the  common  necessaries  of  life  to  get  them  over,  and] 
to  support  them,  until  they  were  able  to  support  them- 
selves.' 

Execution.  John  Billington,  indicted  for  murder, 
was  found  guilty,  and  executed  in  October.  This 
was  the  first  execution  in  Plymouth  colony.  Govern- 
or Bradford  says,  '  He  was  one  of  the  profanest 
amongst  us.  He  was  from  London,  and  I  know  not 
by  what  friends  shuffled  into  our  company.  We  usedi 
all  due  means  about  his  trial ;  he  was  found  guilty, 
both  by  grand  and  petit  jury  ;  and  we  took  the  advice 
of  Mr.  Winihrop,  and  others,  the  ablest  gentlemen  in  i 
the  Massachusetts  Bay,  who  all  concurred  with  us  that 
he  ought  to  die,  and  the  land  be  purged  from  blood.' 
He  was  guilty  of  the  first  offence  in  the  colony  in  1621, 
when  he  suffered  an  ignominous  punishment.  Gov- 
ernor Bradford,  writing  to  Mr.  Cushman  in  1625,  says, 
*  Billington  still  rails  against  you,  and  threatens  to  ar- 
rest you,  I  know  not  wherefore  ;  he  is  a  knave,  and 
so  will  live  and  die.'  Billington  waylaid  and  shot 
one  John  Nevvcomen,  in  revenge  for  some  affront.  It 
was  Francis,  who  in  1621,  discovered  the  lake  that  has 
the  name  of  Billington  Sea.  In  October  of  this  year, 
the  ship  called  the  Handmaid  arrived  at  Plymouth ; 
having  been  twelve  weeks  at  sea,  and  lost  all  her 
masts.  About  sixty  passengers  arrived,  all  well,  but  of 
twenty-eight  cows  shipped  ten  were  lost. 

I{jfi2.— First  Water  Mill.  Stephen  Dean  was  al- 
lowed to  set  up  water  works  to  beat  out  corn ;  after- 
wards he  was  allowed  to  erect  a  grinding  mill,  but  to 
surrender  up  his  beating  mill.  His  mill  was  erected 
near  Billington  Sea,  where  he  had  a  house. 

A  law  was  made  in  the  colony  this  year,  inflicting 
a  penalty  of  twenty  pounds  on  any  person  who  should 
refuse  to  accept  of  the  office  of  governor,  unless  he  was 
chosen  two  years  in  succession,  and  whoever  should  re- 
fuse the  office  of  counsellor  or  magistrate,  was  required 
to  pay  ten  pounds. 


163 


I 


1632]  HISTORY    OF    PLTxMOUTH.  87 

*  Whereas  our  ancient  work  of  fortification,  by  con- 
tinuance of  time  is  decayed,  and  christian  wisdom 
teacheth  us  to  depend  upon  God  in  the  use  of  all 
good  means  for  our  safety,  it  is  agreed  by  court,  that 
fortifications  be  made  in  March  or  April,  and  the  gov- 
ernor and  council  measure  the  work,  and  appoint  the 
whole  their  joint  and  separate  part  of  labor,  and,  in 
case  any  shall  fail  to  do  their  part,  they  to  forfeit  ten 
shillings  a  day  for  each  default,  and  to  pay  his  or  their 
part  of  labor,  as  the  overseers  shall  agree.' 

In  the  autumn  of  1632,  governor  Winthrop,  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, Rev.  Mr.  Wilson,  and  some  other  gentle- 
men from  Boston,  visited  Plymouth.  In  Winthrop*s 
Journal  the  party  is  thus  described :  '  The  governor, 
with  Mr.  Wilson,  pastor  of  Boston,  and  two  captains,' 
&c.  The  two  captains,  it  may  be  presumed,  were 
Endicott  and  Underbill.  '  They  went  on  board  captain 
Pierce's  ship,  (October  28th,)  which  had  just  before 
arrived  from  England,  and  were  put  on  shore  at  a 
place  called  Massagascus.  The  next  morning,  the 
governor  and  his  company  went  on  foot  to  Plymouth, 
and  arrived  witliin  the  evening.  The  governor  of 
Plymouth,  Bradford,  with  Mr.  Brewster  the  elder,  and 
some  others,  came  forth  and  met  them  without  the 
town  and  conducted  them  to  the  governor's  house, 
where  they  were  kindly  entertained  and  feasted  every 
day  at  several  houses.  On  the  lord's  day  was  a  sacra- 
ment, which  they  did  partake  in,  and  in  the  afternoon 
Mr.  Roger  Williams,  (according  to  their  custom,)  pro- 
pounded a  question,  to  which  their  pastor,  Mr.  Smith, 
spake  briefly.  Rev.  Mr.  Williams  prophesied,  and 
after,  the  governor  of  Plymouth  spake  to  the  question  ; 
after  him,  the  elder,  then  some  two  or  three  more  of 
the  congregation.  Then  the  elder  desired  the  gov- 
ernor of  Massachusetts  and  Mr.  Wilson  to  speak  to  it, 
which  they  did.  When  this  was  ended,  the  deacon, 
Mr.  Fuller,  put  the  congregation  in  mind  of  the  duty 
of  contribution,  upon  which  the  governor  and  all  the 


8S  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH,  [1633^ 

rest  went  down  to  the  deacon's  seat  and  put  into  the 
bag,  and  then  returned. 

October  31 5^.— Wednesday,  about  five  in  the 
morning,  the  governor  and  his  company  came  out 
of  Plymouth;  the  governor  of  Plymouth,  with  the 
pastor  and  elder,  he.  accompanying  them  near  half  a 
mile  out  of  town  in  the  dark.  ^  The  lieutenant. 
Holmes,  with  two  others,  and  the  governor's  man,  came 
along  with  them  to  the  great  swamp,  about  ten  miles. 
When  they  came  to  the  great  river,  they  were  carried 
over  by  one  Ludham,  their  guide,  (as  they  had  been 
when  they  came,)  the  stream  being  very  strong  and 
lip  to  the  hips  ;  so  the  governor  called  that  passage 
Ludham's  Ford.  Then  they  came  to  a  place  called 
Hue's  Cross :  the  governor  being  displeased  at  the 
name,  in  respect  that  such  things  might  hereafter  give 
the  papists  occasion  to  say  that  their  religion  was  first 
planted  in  these  parts,  changed  the  name,  and  called 
it  Hue's  Folly  ;  so  they  came  that  evening  to  Massa- 
gascus,  where  they  were  bountifully  entertained  as  be- 
fore, with  store  of  turkeys,  geese,  ducks,  &c.,  and  the 
next  day  to  Boston.' 

The  great  swamp  mentioned  in  this  narrative  was 
in  Pembroke  ;  the  great  river  is  supposed  to  be  what 
is  now  called  JVorth  River.  Ludham's  Ford  was  prob- 
ably in  Hanover,  about  fourteen  miles  from  Plymouth. 
Massagascus  was  probably  written  Wessagascus,  and 
indicates  the  place  which  w^as  commonly  called  Wes- 
sagasselt.  The  term prophesyiiig ,  in  the  sense  intended 
by  governor  Winthrop  in  his  account  of  the  religious 
exercises  at  Plymouth,  has  become  obsolete.  It  orig- 
inated in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  when  the  puritans 
maintained  frequent  religious  exercises,  in  which  texts 
of  scripture  were  interpreted  or  discussed,  one  speak- 
ing to  the  subject  after  another,  in  an  orderly  method. 
1633.— This  year,  Mr.  Edward  Winslow  was  cho- 
sen governor  of  the  jurisdiction  of  New  Plymouth, 
IMr.  William  Bradford,  captain  Miles  Standish,  Mr. 
John  Howlandj  Mr.  John  Alden,  Mr.  John  Done,  Mr 


1633]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  89 

Stephen  Hopkins,  and  Mr.  William  Gilson  were  cho- 
sen to  be  his  assistants  in  government.  Governor 
Bradford,  having  served  in  the  office  of  governor  about 
twelve  years,  now,  by  importunity,  got  off. 

At  a  general  court,  held  28th  October,  it  was  by 
full  consent  agreed  upon,  that  the  chief  government  be 
held  in  the  town  of  Plymouth,  and  that  the  governor 
live  there,  and  keep  his  residence  and  dweUing,  and 
there  also  to  hold  such  courts  as  concern  the  people. 

It  is  a  current  tradition,  that  the  house,  in  which  the 
general  court  held  their  sessions  for  many  years,  occu- 
pied the  identical  spot  on  which  now  stands  the  dwelling 
house  of  Mr.  Thomas  Jackson,  in  Main  street,  and  that 
some  of  the  original  timber  was  incorporated  into  the 
present  house.  The  walls  of  the  chamber  were  high, 
in  which  sat  the  governor  and  assistants,  and  the  lower 
room  was  occupied  by  the  house  of  deputies. 

All  and  every  person  in  the  colony  to  be  subject  to 
such  military  orders  for  training  and  exercise  of  arms, 
as  agreed  upon  by  the  governor  and  assistants. 

The  town  of  Plymouth  was  this  year  visited  with  a 
mortal  sickness,  of  which  upwards  of  twenty  men,  wo- 
men, and  children  died.  Among  others,  was  that  most 
excellent  and  pious  man,  Dr.  Samuel  Fuller.  He  had 
attached  himself  to  the  puritan  interest,  while  at  Ley- 
den,  and  came  over  as  a  member  of  Robinson's  church, 
in  the  Mayflower.  He  twice  visited  Salem  in  the 
discharge  of  his  professional  duties,  and,  being  ex- 
perienced in  the  church  afl:airs  at  Plymouth,  commu- 
nicated some  useful  information  to  governor  Endicott, 
relative  to  the  formation  of  a  church  at  Salem,  for 
which  he  received  his  grateful  acknowledgments. 
He  was  an  ardent  friend  to  the  church,  of  which  he 
was  deacon,  and  was  distinguished  for  his  moral  and 
christian  virtues.  '  The  spring  before  this  sickness,' 
says  Morton,  (Memorial),  'there  was  a  numerous 
company  of  flies,  which  were  like  for  bigness  unto 
wasps  or  bumblebees ;  they  came  out  of  little  holes  in 
8* 


ll 


90  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [l635  I 

the  ground,  and  did  eat  up  the  green  things,  and  made : 
such  a  constant  yelling  noise  as  made  the  woods  ring ; 
of  them,  and  to  deafen  the  hearers.     They  were  not ' 
heard  nor  seen  hy  the  English  in  the  country  before 
this  time,  but  the  Indians  told  them  that  sickness  would 
follow  ;  and  so  it  did.    Very  hot  in  the  months  of  June, 
July,  and  August,  of  that  summer.'     The  insect  here 
described,  is  the  locust,  which  has  appeared  in  our 
woods  at  distant  intervals  since. 

In  the  inventory  of  Dr.  Fuller,  three  cows  were  ap- 
praised January  2d,  1633,  at  sixty  pounds  sterling. 

1634. — This  year  Mr.  Thomas  Prince  was  chosen 
governor  of  the  jurisdiction  of  New  Plymouth.  Mr. 
William  Bradford,  first  assistant,  or  deputy  governor, 
and  six  other  gentlemen  were  chosen  assistants. 

Indian  Anecdote.  Governor  Winthrop  mentions  in 
his  Journal,  that  *  Mr.  Winslow,  coming  in  his  bark 
from  Connecticut,  left  his  bark  at  Narraganset,  to  re- 
turn to  Plymouth  by  land.  Asamequin  (INIassasoit), 
his  old  ally,  offered  to  be  his  guide,  but  before  they 
took  their  journey,  the  Sagamore  sent  one  of  his  men  to 
Plymouth,  to  tell  them  that  Mr.  Winslow  was  dead,  and 
directed  him  to  show  where  he  was  killed  ;  whereupon 
there  was  much  fear  and  sorrow  at  Plymouth.  The 
next  day,  when  Asamequin  brought  him  home,  they 
asked  him  why  he  sent  such  word  ;  he  answered,  that 
it  was  their  manner  to  do  so,  that  they  might  be  more 
welcome  when  they  came  home. 

1635. — William  Bradford  chosen  governor,  Edward 
Winslow,  Thomas  Prince,  and  five  others  assistants. 

Mr.  E.  Winslow  again  visited  England,  as  agent  for 
the  colony,  and  was  joint  agent  for  Massachusetts  also. 
While  before  the  council,  on  the  affairs  of  the  colonies, 
archbishop  Laud,  being  greatly  incensed  against  him, 
as  against  all  the  colonists,  as  separatists  from,  the 
church  of  England,  accused  him  of  officiating  in  the 
celebration  of  marriages,  and  as  religious  teacher.  Mr. 
Winslow  acknowledged  that  he  had  occasionally  taught 


1635]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  91 

publicly  in  the  church,  and  that  he  had  officiated  in 
Tthe  celebration  of  marriages  as  a  magistrate,  and  that 
he  himself  had  been  married  by  a  magistrate.  The 
archbishop  pronounced  him  guilty  of  separation  from 
the  national  church,  and  '  by  vehement  importunity,' 
says  governor  Bradford,  'got  the  board  at  last  to  con- 
sent to  his  commitment.  He  was  conveyed  to  the 
Fleet  prison,  and  was  there  confined  about  seventeen 
weeks.' — See  Ecclesiastical  History. 

On  the  15th  of  August,  Plymouth  was  visited  by  a 
tremendous  storm  or  hurricane,  which  is  thus  de- 
scribed in  INIorton's  Memorial.  *  It  began  in  the  morn- 
ing a  little  before  day,  and  grew,  not  by  degrees,  but 
caine  with  great  violence  from  the  beginning  to  the 
great  amazement  of  many  :  itblew^  down  sundry  houses, 
and  uncovered  divers  others ;  divers  vessels  were  lost 
at  sea  in  it,  and  many  more  ^vere  in  extreme  danger. 
It  caused  the  sea  to  swell  in  some  places  to  the  south- 
ward of  Plymouth,  as  it  rose  to  twenty  feet  right  up 
and  down,  and  made  many  of  the  Indians  to  climb  into 
the  trees  for  safety.  It  threw  down  all  the  corn  to  the 
ground,  which  never  rose  more,  and  the  which,  through 
the  mercy  of  God,  it  being  near  the  harvest  time,  was 
not  lost,  though  much  the  worse ;  and  had  the  wind 
continued  without  shifting,  in  likelihood  it  would  have 
drowned  some  part  of  the  country.  It  blew  down 
many  hundred  thousand  of  trees,  turning  up  the  stronger 
by  the  roots,  and  breaking  the  high  pine  trees,  and 
such  like,  in  the  midst,  and  the  tall  young  oaks  and 
walnut  trees  of  good  bigness  w^ere  w^ound  as  withes  by 
it, — very  strange  and  fearful  to  behold.  It  began  in 
the  southeast  and  veered  sundry  ways,  but  the  great- 
est force  of  it  at  Plymouth  was  from  the  former  quarter  : 
it  continued  not  in  extremity  above  five  or  six  hours, 
before  the  violence  of  it  began  to  abate ;  the  marks  of 
it  will  remain  this  many  years  in  those  parts  where  it 
was  sorest.  The  moon  suffered  a  great  eclipse  two 
nights  after  it.'     There  is  a  close  similarity  between 


92  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1635) 

the  hurricane  described  by  Mr.  Morton,  and  that  which 
we  experienced  in  the  same  place  in  1815.* 

March  13th. — Thomas  Boreman  agreed  with,  to  be 
paid  in  beaver,  at  ten  shillings  a-piece,  or  other  com- 
modities of  valuable  price,  to  be  levied  on  the  com- 
pany, to  do  the  fort  in  manner  following  :  all  the  posts, 
ten  inches  square,  and  not  to  stand  above  ten  feet  asun- 
der ;  to  be  done  with  three  rails  between  every  post, 
the  post  and  rails  to  be  sawed,  he  to  enclose  the  whole 
with  sawed  boards  ;  to  be  nine  feet  high,  and  to  be  cut 
sharp  at  the  top. 

It  appears  that   previous  to  this  date  the    general 

*  Although  not  strictly  coincident  with  the  history  of  Plymouth,  , 
the  following  interesting  detail  may  not  be  deemed  altogether  for- 
eign from  the  subject. 

In  the  abore-mentioned  tempest,  a  bark,  belonging  to  Mr.  Aller- 
ton  of  Plymouth,  was  sbipwrecked  at  Cape  Ann,  and  twenty-one 
persons  drowned  ;  among  others,  Mr.  John  Avery,  a  minister,  re- 
cently from  Wiltshire  in  England,  with  his  wife  and  six  children. 
None  were  saved  but  Mr.  Anthony  Thatcher  and  his  wife,  who 
were  cast  on  shore.  The  vessel  was  returning  from  Ipswich  to 
Marblehead.  Thomas  Thatcher,  nephew  to  Anthony,  unwilling 
to  encounter  the  voyage,  travelled  the  journey  by  land,  and  thereby 
escaped  the  shipwreck.  Mr.  Thomas  Thatcher,  so  providentially 
preserved,  was  the  first  pastor  of  the  third  church  in  Boston,  and  is 
believed,  by  the  recent  editor  of  Winlhrop's  Journal,  to  have  been 
the  progenitor  of  all  who  have  rendered  this  name  in  church  and 
state  illustrious,  in  Massachusetts.  Dr.  C.  Mather  says,  the  storm 
drove  the  vessel  on  a  rock,  that  it  was  quickly  broken  all  to  pieces; 
that  almost  the  whole  company  were  drowned,  by  being  succes- 
sively washed  from  the  rock;  that,  while  Rlr.  Avery  and  Mr. 
Thatcher  were  hanging  on  the  rock,  Mr.  Thatcher  holding  his 
friend  by  the  hand, '  resolved  to  die  together.*  Mr.  Avery,  having 
just  finished  a  short  and  devout  ejaculation,  was  by  a  wave  swept 
off  into  the  sea.  The  island  has  been  called  Thatcher's  Island  ever 
since;  the  next  island,  Thatcher's  Wo.  The  rock,  Avery's  Fall. 
A  cradle,  and  a  cradle  covering,  of  scarlet  broadcloth,  elegantly 
embroidered,  saved  from  the  wreck,  is  still  preserved  in  the  Thatch- 
er family  at  Yarmouth,  and  was  shown  to  me  a  few  years  since. 
Anthony  Thatcher  took  up  his  residence  at  Yarmouth,  from  whom 
hath  sprung  a  very  numerous  progeny,  and  from  whom  I  trace  my 
own  ancestry.  In  1643,  and  several  subsequent  years,  Anthony 
Thatcher  was  si  deputy  from  Yarmouth  to  the  general  court,  at 
Plymouth.  John  Thatcher  died  at  Yarmouth,  May  8th,  1713,  aged 
seventy- five.  At  the  time  of  his  death,  he  was  a  counsellor  of 
Massachusetts. 


J 1636]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  93 

J  court  promulgated  no  penal  laws,  but  the  people  were 
governed  by  the  moral  law  of  Moses  and  the  New  Tes- 

;  lament,  as  paramount  to  all  others.    These  laws  hideed 

.  accord  with  that  patriarchal  simplicity  of  manners  and 
morals  which  were  the  crownins;  characteristics  of  the 
puritan  fathers.     Among  the  penalties  inflicted  on  in- 

[  dividuals  under  the  administration  of  governor  Brad- 
ford, governor  Winslow,  and  g;overnor  Prince,  from 
1632  to  1640,  we  find  the  following  instances  recorded. 
Frances  Sprague,  for  drinking  overmuch,  fined  ten  shil- 
lings ;  Frances  Billingham,  and  John  Phillips,  for  drink- 
ing tobacco  in  the  high  way,  twelve  shillings,  each — 
this  was  probably  using  tobacco  by  smoking.  Stephen 
Hopkins,  presented  for  selling  beer  at  two  pence  per 
quart,  which  was  worth  but  one  penny.  John  Barnes, 
for  sabbath  breaking,  was  fined  thirty  shillings,  and  set 
one  hour  in  the  stocks.  Edward  Holman,  less  guilty, 
fined  twenty  shillings.  Thomas  Clark,  for  selling  a 
pair  of  boots  and  spurs  for  fifteen  shillings,  which  cost 
him  but  ten,  fined  thirty  shillings.  William  Adey,  for 
working  on  Sunday  was  severely  whipt  at  the  post. 
1636. — Edward  Winslow  chosen  governor  this  year. 
Plymouth  Declaration  of  Rights.  The  body  of 
laws  adopted  by  the  colony  of  Plymouth,  styled  '  The 
General  Fundamentals,'  was  now  established.  The 
first  article  is,  '  That  no  act,  imposition,  law,  or  ordi- 
nance, be  made  or  imposed  upon  us  at  present,  or 
to  come,  but  such  as  has  been,  or  shall  be,  enacted  by 
the  consent  of  the  body  of  freemen  or  associates,  or 
their  representatives  legally  assembled  ;  which  is  ac- 
cording to  the  free  liberties  of  the  free  born  people  of 
England.' 

The  second  article  is,  *  And  for  the  well  governing 
this  colony,  it  is  also  ordered,  that  there  be  a  free  elec- 
tion annually  of  governor,  deputy  governor,  and  assist- 
ants, by  the  vote  of  the  freemen  of  this  corporation.*. 
The  fundamentals  are  dated,  1636.  The  style  of  en- 
actment is,  '  We,  the  associates  of  the  colony  of  New 


94  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1636 

Plymouth,  coining  hither  as  free  born  subjects  of  the 
kingdom  of  England,  endowed  with  all  and  singular 
the  privileges  belonging  to  such,  being  assembled,  do 
enact,  ordain,  and  constitute,  &,c. 

Plymouth  Laws.  '  For  the  better  government  of  the 
Indians,  and  for  their  improvement  in  civility  and 
Christianity,  the  assembly  of  Plymouth  colony  made 
several  laws  for  preaching  the  gospel  to  them  ;  for  ad- 
mitting Indian  preachers  among  them,  &c.  with  the 
concurrence  of  the  principal  Indians ;  for  making  or- 
ders and  constituting  courts,  for  appointing  civil  rulers,  ^' 
and  other  officers,  to  punish  misdemeanors,  with  the 
liberty  of  appeal  to  the  county  court  and  court  of  assist- 
ants.'— Holmes^  Annals. 

Capital  offences  punished  with  death.  Rebellion 
against  the  king,  murder,  solemn  compaction  or  con- 
versing with  the  devil,  by  way  of  witchcraft,  or  the 
like.*  In  the  formation  of  the  laws,  regard  was  had, 
*  primarily  and  principally,  to  the  ancient  platform  of 
God's  law.' 

I  have  hitherto  detailed  the  concerns  of  the  colony 
and  the  town,  hand  in  hand,  without  distinction.  While 
the  governor  and  assistants  acquitted  themselves  of  ap- 
propriate duties,  they  fulfilled  those  of  magistrates  and 
of  selectmen.  The  court  of  assistants  was  composed 
of  the  governor  and  assistants,  and  the  general  court 
consisted  of  the  governor  and  assistants,  and  the  dep- 
uties from  the  several  towns  forming  the  lower  house. 
Here  it  may  be  proper  to  introduce  an  abstract,  relative 
to  their  mode  of  government,  from  the  valuable  history 
of  the  old  colony,  by  Hon.  Francis  Baylies. 

'  The  pilgrims,'  says  Mr.  Baylies,  '  had  adopted 
no  constitution  or  instrument  of  government,  except 

*  '  Whatever  imperfections  may  be  justly  ascribed  to  our  fathers, 
(which,  however,  were  as  few  as  any  mortals  have  discovered,) 
their  judgment  in  forming  their  policy  was  founded  on  wise  and  be- 
nevolent principles.  It  was  founded  on  revelation  and  reason  too. 
It  w^as  consistent  with  the  best,  greatest,  and  wisest  legislators  of 
antiquity.' — Pres.  Adams. 


1636]  HISTORY   OF    PLYMOUTH.  95 

the  simple  compact  which  was  signed  in  the  cabin  of 
the  Mayflower,  November,   1620,  and  which  recog- 
nized no  principle  but  that  of  allegiance  to  the  king, 
and  the  controlling  power  of  the  majority  of  the  peo- 
ple in  the  transactions  of  the  colony.     No  laws  were 
made  for  the  general  organization  of  the  government  ; 
the  limits  of  political  rights  and  political  powers  not 
defined ;  the  governor  and  assistants  maintained  their 
small  portion  of  authority  rather  by  common  consent, 
than  by  a  lawful  delegation  of  power.*  =^**  Crimes 
and  punishments  were   neither  declared  nor  defined. 
The  only  magistrates  were  the  governor  and  assistants. 
The  office  of  justice  of  the  peace  was  unknown.    Trials 
were  had  in  the  general  court   before  juries,  selected 
from   the   whole  body  of  the  freemen  of  the  colony  ; 
and,  until  1634,  the  governor  and  assistants  were  not 
by  law  considered  a  judicial  court.     The  magistrates 
had  no  jurisdiction  of  civil  actions,  and  in  criminal  of- 
fences their  jurisdiction  was  confined  to  the   power  of 
binding  over  the  accused  to  appear  at  the  general  court. 
The  duties,  powers,  and  obligations  of  husband  and 
wife,  parent  and  child,  guardian  and  ward,  master  and 
servant,  &c.-  were  controlled  and  influenced  by  usages 
which  had  been  varied  from  the  usages  of  England, 
&LC.     Marriage  was  deemed  a  civil  contract,  and  was 
solemnized  by  the   civil  magistrate,   and   not  by   the 
pastor   or   elder.     With    respect  to   political  objects, 
previous  to  the  year  1636,  the  Plymouth  colony  may 
he  considered  to  have  been  but  a  voluntary  association, 
ruled  by  the  majority,  and  not  by  fixed  laws.     It  does 
not  appear,  except  in  a  very  few  instances,   that  they 
availed   themselves  of  their  delegated   powers  under 
their  patent  to  enact  laws,  until   1633.     A  few  laws 
only,  and  such  as  were  of  the  most  urgent  necessity, 
were  then  established.****  The  power  of  the  church 
in  effect  was  superior  to  the  civil  power,  but  in  terms 
was  confined  to  the  infliction  of  censure  only.' 

Literally  abstracted  from  the  civihzed   world,  our 


96  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [l63l     ' 

revered  puritan  fathers  held  the  bible  in  estimation  as  ; 
the  basis  of  all  laws  ;  the  precepts  of  the  gospel  the  : 
rule  of  their  lives  and  the  fountain  of  their  dearest 
hopes.  It  was  the  inwoven  sentiment  of  their  hearts, 
that  the  sovereign  power  resides  with  the  people,  and 
this  was  the  fundamental  axiom  upon  which  their  gov- 
ernment was  reared. 

It  was  this  year  enacted,  that,  on  the  first  Tuesday 
of  June,  a  governor  and  seven   assistants   should   be 
chosen,  '  to  rule  and  govern  the  plantation  within  the 
limits  of  this  corporation,'  and  the  election  was  con- jj 
fined  to  the  freemen,  church  membership  being  an  in- *i 
dispensable  qualification  for  freemen. 

An  oath  was  to  be  administered  to  the  governor,  the 
assistants,  the  freemen,  and  to  all  who  resided  among 
them.  A  treasurer  and  constable  w^ere  annually  cho- 
sen, but  no  sheriff. 

It  was  ordered,  that  every  constable-wick  should  be  ; 
provided  with  stocks  and  whipping-posts.     These  were 
appendages  to  every  meeting  house  till  within  the  last 
fifty  years.  ■ 

It  was  provided  that  no  servant,  coming  out  of  hisi 
time,  or  single  person,  be  suffered  to  keep  house  for 
themselves,  until  they  were  completely  provided  with 
arms  and  ammunition  ;  and  were  not  allowed  to  be 
housekeepers,  or  to  build  any  cottage  or  dwelling, 
till  such  time  as  they  be  allowed  by  the  governor  and 
council  of  assistants,  or  some  one  or  more  of  them. 

1637. — Edward  Winslow  chosen  governor  this  year. 
Great  disturbance  and  perplexity  was  occasioned  by 
one  Samuel  Gorton,  lately  from  Boston.  He  en- 
deavored to  introduce  heretical  or  obnoxious  doctrines, 
and  seduce  the  people  to  his  opinions,  and  having  pro- 
voked Mr.  Ralph  Smith,  the  minister,  to  a  controversy, 
he  was,  on  his  complaint,  summoned  before  the  court 
for  trial,  and,  conducting  most  insolently  towards 
magistrates  and  ministers,  he  was  fined  and  ordered  to 
find  security  for  good  behavior,  and  to  quit  the  place 


1638]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  97 

in  fourteen  days.  He  next  w€nt  to  Rhode  Island, 
where  he  so  conducted  that  he  was  sentenced  to  suffer 
corporal  punishment  by  whipping,  and  was  banished. 

1638. — Thomas  Prince  chosen  governor  this  year. 
There  was  a  great  earthquake  in  New  England  this 
year,  on  the  first  day  of  June.  The  earth  shook  with 
such  violence,  that,  in  some  places,  the  people  could 
not  stand  without  difficulty  in  the  streets,  and  most 
moveable  articles  in  their  houses  were  thrown  down. 
This  phenomenon  formed  a  memorable  epoch  in  the  an- 
nals of  New  England. 

Execution,  Four  young  men  who  were  servants 
at  Plymouth  absconded  from  their  masters,  and,  ram- 
ih'ng  abroad,  they  met  with  an  Indian  in  the  woods 
near  Providence,  but  within  the  jurisdiction  of  Ply- 
mouth ;  they  killed  him  to  rob  him  of  his  wampum ; 
tone  of  the  murderers  escaped,  the  other  three  were 
tried,  and,  confessing  their  guilt,  were  condemned  and 
executed."^  It  may  be  thought  extravagant  to  hang 
three  Englishmen  for  one  Indian,  but  it  serves  to  show 
the  stern  purpose  of  (he  puritans,  that  the  most  rigid 
justice  should  not  be  withheld  from  the  defenceless  na- 
tlves. 

It  is  ordered,  that  if  any  man  make  a  motion  of  mar- 
riage to  any  man's  (laughter  or  maid,  without  first  ob- 
taining leave  of  her  parents  or  master,  he  shall  be 
punished  by  fine  not  exceeding  five  pounds,  or  corpo- 
ral punishment,  or  both,  at  the  discretion  of  the  bench, 
according  to  the  nature  of  the  offence. 

Any  person  denying  the  scriptures  to  be  a  rule  of 
life,  shall  suffer  corporal  punishment  at  discretion  of 
the  magistrates,  so  as  it  shall  not  extend  to  life  or  limb. 

The  court  granted  that  Clark's  Island,  the  Eel 
River  Beach,  Saguish  and  the  Gurnet's  Nose,  shall  be 

*  The  court  which  tried  the  above  mentioned  murderers   con- 
sisted of  governor  William  Bradford,   Edward  Winslow,  Thomas 
Prince,  Capt.   Miles  Standish,  John  Alden,  John  Jenney,  John 
Brown,  and  John  Atwood. 
9 


98  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1639IJ 

and  remain  unto  the  town  of  Plymouth,  with  the  wood*  i 
thereupon. 

1639. — William  Bradford  chosen  governor  this  year, 
'  The  towns  in  Plymouth  colony,  for  the  first  time,  sent 
deputies  for  legislation.     Their  first  general  assembly 
was  on  the  4th  of  June.     Hitherto,  the  governor  and 
bis  assistants,  under  the  general  name  of  the  associates 
of  the  colony  of  New  Plymouth,  were  virtually  the  ' 
representatives  of  the  people.     All  laws  w^ere  enacted,  \ 
and  all  government  managed  by  them,  for  nearly  twenty  ' 
years.     They  had  a  few  laws,  which  they  termed  gen- 
eral fundamental ;  but,  in  general,  they  were  governed 
by  the  common  law  and  statutes  of  England.' 

The  representatives  from  the  town  of  Plymouth  to 
the  legislative  assembly  in  general  court  this  year, 
were  William  Paddy,  Manasseh  Kempton,  Jr.,  John 
Cook,  Jun.  and  John  Dunham. 

This  year  the  general  court  of  Massachusetts  passed 
the  following  order  for  the  regulation  of  the  ladies' dress. 
'  No  garment  shall  be  made  with  short  sleeves ;  and 
such  as  have  garments  with  short  sleeves,  shall  not  wear 
the  same,  unless  they  cover  the  arm  to  the  wrist ;  and 
hereafter,  no  person  whatever  shall  make  any  garment 
for  women,  with  sleeves  more  than  half  an  ell  wide, 
(twenty-two  and  a  half  inches). 

The  first  prison  was  ordered  to  be  erected  at  Ply- 
mouth ;  to  be  twenty -two  feet  long,  sixteen  feet  wide 
within  walls,  and  two  stories  high  ;  to  have  three  floors, 
and  covered  with  boards,  and  well  finished.  This 
prison  was  probably  completed  in  1641,  as  it  is  men- 
tioned by  some  writers  that  the  first  prison  was  erected  in 
that  year.  According  to  the  Old  Colony  records,  it  was 
seated  near  Little  Brook,  hence  called  Prison  Brook, 
where  Mr.  N.  Russell's  house  now  stands.  Jt  was  this 
year  ordered,  that  the  grand  juiy  in  each  town  should 
take  notice  of  all  idle  persons,  and  inquire  how  they 
live  ;  if  they  cannot  give  a  good  account  of  themselves, 
the  constable  to  bring  them   before  the  governor  or 


1642]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  99 

magistrate.     In  1640,  by  an  additional  law  it  was  pro- 
vided, that  each  complaint  should  be  made  on  oath. 

It  was  ordered,  that  profane  swearing  should  be 
punished  by  setting  in  the  stocks  three  hours,  or  by 
imprisonment.  Telling  lies,  for  every  offence,  fined 
ten  shillings,  or  stocked  for  two  hours. 

This  year  the  great  Sachem,  Massasoit,  and  Mooanam 
his  son,  came  into  the  court  held  at  Plymouth  on  the 
twenty-fifth  day  of  September,  and  desired  that  the 
ancient  league  and  confederacy,  formerly  made  with 
the  government  of  Plymouth,  wherein  he  acknowledged 
i  himself  subject  to  the  king  of  England  and  his  succes- 
sors, may  stand  and  remain  inviolable. 

The  ancient  confederacy  was  fully  confirmed  for 
perpetuity  by  Massasoit  and  his  son,  and  also  by  the 
governor  of  Plymouth  colony,  on  their  part. 

1640. — William  Bradford  was  chosen  governor,  and 
John  Jenney,  John  Rowland,  John  Atwood,  and  Wil- 
liam Paddy  were  the  representatives  to  the  legislature. 
J.  B.  was  presented  for  buying  rye  at  four  shillings 
per  bushel,  and  selling  it  for  five  shillings  ;  also  for  sell- 
ing thread  for  five  shillings  per  pound. 

1641. — Mr.  John  Jenney  was  allowed  certain  privi- 
leges at  Clark's  Island  to  make  salt,  which  he  was  to 
sell  to  the  inhabitants  at  two  shillings  the  bushel. 
Herring  wear  let  for' three  years  to  three  persons,  who 
are  to  deliver  the  shares  of  herrings,  and  to  receive 
is.  6d.  the  thousand  for  their  trouble.  A  barque,  of 
forty  or  fifty  tons,  was  built  at  Plymouth,  January  24, 
1641.  The  estimated  expense  was  £200,  and  the 
whole  was  divided  into  shares  of  one  eighth  or  one 
sixteenth,  and  were  contributed  by  thirteen  persons. 
This  was  doubtless  the  first  vessel  of  size  ever  built  at 
Plymouth. 

1642. — William  Bradford  was  elected  governor, 
and  John  Doane  and  John  Cooke  deputies.  Thirty 
acres  of  land  were  granted  at  Clark's  Island,  (the  use 
of  them)  to  the  five  partners  that  make  salt  for  twenty- 
one  years.     A  keeper  was  hired  to  take  charge  of  the 


100  HISTORY   OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1643 

COWS  from  May  1st,  to  the  last  of  October,  for  thirty- 
six  bushels  of  corn  and  a  pair  of  hose  and  shoes.  A 
fortification  was  erected,  and  ordnance  mounted  on 
Fort  Hill  this  year. 

1643. — Edward  Winslow  was  this  year  elected 
governor,  Mr.  Prince,  Mr.  Jenney,  ]\]r.  Hopkins,  Mr. 
Paddy,  and  Mr.  N.  Sowther  were  the  deputies. 

This  is  the  memorable  epoch  of  the  First  union  of 
the  JVew  England  Colonies.  A  confederacy  had 
been  in  agitation  several  years.  As  early  as  1631, 
the  subject  was  discussed ;  and  the  following  year, 
articles  of  union,  for  amity,  offence,  and  defence,, 
mutual  advice  and  assistance  upon  all  necessary  oc- 
casions, were  drawn,  and  referred  to  the  next  year 
for  fmlher  consideration.  Difficulties,  however,  occur- 
red, which  retarded  the  execution  of  the  design  until 
the  present  year.  The  colonies  of  Connecticut,  New 
Haven,  and  Plymouth,  despatched  Commissioners 
to  Boston  in  May,  at  the  time  of  the  session  of  the 
Massachusetts  general  court.  This  court  appointed 
commissioners  to  meet  those  of  the  other  colonies.  A 
spirit  of  harmony  and  mutual  condescension  was  au- 
spicious to  the  great  object,  and  on  the  19th  of  May 
the  articles  were  completed  and  signed  at  Boston. 
The  reasons  assigned  for  this  union  were,  the  dispersed 
state  of  the  colonies,  the  vicinity  of  the  Dutch,  Swiss, 
and  French,  who  were  inclined  to  encroachments ;  the 
hostile  disposition  of  the  neighboring  Indians ;  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  general  combination  of  these  savage 
tribes,  to  extirpate  the  English  colonies ;  the  com- 
mencement of  civil  contests  in  the  parent  country ;  the 
impossibility  of  obtaining  aid  from  England  in  any 
emergency  ;  and  in  fine  the  alliance  already  formed  be- 
tween the  colonies  by  the  sacred  ties  of  religion.  The 
commissioners  declared,  that,  as  in  nation  and  religion, 
so  in  other  respects,  they  be  and  continue  one ;  and 
henceforth  be  called  by  the  name  of  the  United  Colo- 
nies of  New  England.  Here  we  may  discern  the  gefiia 
of  our  present  national  system. 


')     1643]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  101 

I  The  members  of  this  league  were  deemed  by  all  their 
neighbors  as  one  body,  with  regard  to  their  public 
transactions,  though  the  peculiar  affairs  of  each  con- 
tinued to  be  managed  by  its  own  courts  and  magistrates. 

On  the  completion  of  the  colonial  confederacy,  sev- 
eral Indian  sachems  came  in  and  submitted  to  the  En- 
glish government,  among  whom  were  Miantonomoh, 
the  Narraganset,  and  Uncus,  the  Mohegan  chief.  The 
union  rendered  the  colonies  formidable  to  the  Dutch 
as  well  as  Indians,  and  respectable  in  the  view  of  the 
French  ;  maintained  general  harmony  among  them- 
selv^es,  and  secured  the  peace  and  rights  of  the  country  ; 
preserved  the  colonies  during  the  civil  wars  and  unset- 
tled sia^e  of  England  ;  was  the  grand  instrument  of 
their  defence  in  Philip's  war,  and  was  essentially  ser- 
jviceable  in  civilizing  and  christianizing  the  Indians. 
The  proportion  of  men  assigned  to  the  colonies  by  this 
alliance,  was  100  to  Massachusetts,  and  45  to  each  of 
the  other  three  colonies,  Plymouth,  Connecticut,  and 
New  Haven.  This  union  subsisted  with  some  altera- 
tions until  the  year  1686,  when  all  the  charters  were 
in  effect  vacated  by  a  commission  from  King  James  II. 
This  confederacy  was  acknowledged  and  countenanced 
by  the  authority  in  England,  from  its  beginning  until  the 
restoration,  and  in  letters  from  King  Charles  II.  no- 
tice is  taken  of  it,  without  any  exception  to  the  es- 
tablishment.'— Holmes^  Annals,  wltere  he  notices  nume- 
rous other  authorities. 

A  watch-house  was  this  year  built  of  brick,  on  Fort 
Hill.  The  bricks  were  furnished  by  Mr.  Gromes  at 
lis.  the  thousand.  This  is  the  earliest  notice  of  brick. 
In  digging  a  grave  on  the  summit  of  Fort  Hill,  a  (ew 
years  since,  a  large  body  of  brick  was  discovered  a 
few  feet  beneath  the  surface  of  the  earth. 

Householders  were   ordered  to   provide  themselves 

with  fire  arms  and  ammunition,  and  drum-heads  to  be 

procured  by  subscription.       In  September,   the  whole 

township  was  classed  in  a  watch,  to  be  kept  from  sun- 

9* 


102  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1644  : 

set  to  sunset,  in  regard  of  danger  from  the  Indians.  Six  ; 
men  and  a  corporal  assigned  to  a  watch,  when  these  • 
persons  were  chosen  the  council  of  war. 

Wolf  traps  were,  by  the  colony  court,  ordered  to  be 
made  ;  w^hen  the  whole  town  was  classed  to  make  them 
at  various  places.  The  wolves  made  distressing  dep- 
redations on  their  herds  and  folds  many  years.  Gov- 
ernor's assistants  were  classed  on  this  occasion. 

1644. — John  Atwood,  who  had  been  one  of  the  as- 
sistants, and  also  a  deputy  to  the  general  court,  died 
this  year.  He  was  a  man  of  much  usefulness  in  the 
place,  and  in  life  and  death  exemplified  the  christian  . 
character.  In  the  course  of  this  year  the  inhabitants 
of  the  town,  but  chiefly  the  church  members,  had  in 
contemplation  a  singular  project,  which  well  nigh  ef- 
fected a  total  abandonment  of  their  first  labors  and  foot- 
paths on  our  shore.  It  appears  by  the  church  records,, 
that  a  considerable  part  of  their  body  viewed  their 
present  establishment  as  barren  and  unproductive. 
They  became  so  dissatisfied  with  their  unpromising  lo- 
cation, that  they  were  willing  to  relinquish  all  their  in- 
terest in  it  for  a  more  advantageous  situation.  Indi- 
viduals were  frequently  removins;,  and  the  church  be- 
gan seriously  to  think,  whether  it  were  not  better  tore- 
move  jointly  and  bodily,  than  to  be  thus  weakened  and 
insensibly  dissolved.  Many  meetings  and  much  con- 
sultation resulted  in  indecision  and  contrariety  of  opin- 
ions. Some,  who  opposed  the  removal,  would  yet 
assent  to  it,  rather  than  see  a  dissolution  of  the  church, 
provided  a  more  eligible  situation  could  be  agreed  on, 
and  a  majority  at  length  acquiesced.  The  place  se-- 
lected  w^as  no  other  than  JVauset,  now  Eastham,  on 
Cape  Cod,  and  the  purchase  was  made,  merely  from  a 
superficial  view.  But,  on  a  further  examination,  the 
new  territory  disappointed  their  expectations,  and  they 
changed  their  resolution.  It  was  found  to  be  50  miles 
from  the  centre  of  the  setdements,  remote  from  all  so- 
ciety, and  surrounded  by  a  wilderness  of  savages.  Its 
extent  so  limited  as  to  be  insufficient  to  accommodate 


1644]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  103 

the  whole  society,  much  less  capable  of  receiving  in- 
creasing numbers.  The  harbor  incomparably  less  com- 
modious, and  more  exposed  to  enemies  than  Plymouth. 
From  these,  and  other  considerations,  the  church,  as  a 
body,  changed  their  determination,  but  a  considerable 
number  of  respectable  individuals  resolved  on  a  remo- 
val, and  the  church  relinquished  their  rights,  which 
were  purchased  by  individuals,  who  removed  and  took 
possession.*  ^ 

Orders  agreed  upon  by  the  council  of  war.  1 .  That 
the  lead  be  made  up  into  bullets,  and  men  hired  to  do 
it.  2.  That  when  an  alarm  is  made  and  continued 
in  Plymouth,  Duxbury,  or  Marshfield,  there  shall  be 
20  men  sent  from  Plymouth,  and  as  many  from  Dux- 
bury,  and  ten  from  Marshfield,  to  relieve  the  place 
where  the  alarm  is  continued.  3.  And  when  any  oth- 
er places  stand  in  need  of  help,  upon  the  continuing  of 
the  alarm,  then  a  beacon  to  be  fired,  or  else  a  great 
fire  to  be  made,  for  Plymouth,  upon  the  gallows  hill, 
on  the  captain's  hill  for  Duxbury,  and  on  the  hill  by 
Mr.  Thomas's  house  for  Marshfield. 

*  It  is  worthy  of  serious  remark,'  says  the  writer  m 
Historical  Collections,  vol.  iii.  second  series, '  that  near- 
ly the  same  regulations  have  been  resorted  to  by  their 
posterity,  in  the  war  of  the  revolution,  and  now,  (1815) 
not  with    the   savages,  but  with    a  people    of  kindred 

origin.'  ,        ,       i       j 

On  the  16th  of  April  of  this  year,  the  church  and 
society  were  most  grievously  afflicted  by  the  death  of 
William  Brewster,  their  ruling  elder  and  kind  benefac- 
tor. The  life  of  this  excellent  man  was  protracted  to 
the  84th  year  of  his  age.— *See  his  character  in  the 
Ecclesiastical  History. 

*  Amonff  the  principal  people  who  removed  from  Plymouth  to 
Eastham,  were  Thomas  Prince,  who  had  been  twice  governor  ot 
the  colony,  John  Doane,  one  of  the  deacons  of  the  church  Nicholas 
Snow    Josiah  Coolc,  Richard  Hi^^ins,  John  Smalley,  and  Edward 

*  Hangs.     Duxbury  and  Marshfield  had  before  been  settled  entire- 
ly  from  Plymouth. 


104  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1649 

1646. — Great  agitation  was  occasioned  in  Plymouth 
this  year,  by  the  arrival  of  Capt.  Thomas  Cromwell, 
with  three  ships  of  war,  bringing  with  them  several 
rich  prizes,  taken  from  the  Spaniards.  His  seamen 
were  exceedingly  intemperate  and  riotous  ;  one  of  them 
attempted  the  life  of  his  commander,  who,  wresting 
his  rapier  from  him,  gave  him  a  mortal  wound  on  his 
head.  The  captain  was  tried  by  a  court-martial,  and 
acquitted. 

The  town  was  at  this  time  almost  deserted,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  removals  to  Eastham,  and  other  towns, 
at  different  times.  Governor  VVinthrop  represents  it  as 
a  special  interposition  of  divine  providence,  that  Cap- 
tain Cromwell's  squadron  should  have  been  compelled 
by  stress  of  weather  to  put  into  the  harbor,  as,  during 
their  continuance  of  fourteen  days,  they  spent  liberally, 
and  gave  freely  to  the  poorer  sort.  The  freemen  and 
townsmen,  were,  in  number,  seventy-nine  only  in  town, 
at  this  time. 

Mr.  Edward  Winslow  was  this  year  a  third  time  des- 
patched as  agent  to  England,  for  the  adjustment  of 
some  difficulties  respecting  the  colonies  of  both  Mas- 
sachusetts and  Plymouth.  He  executed  his  commis- 
sion with  great  ability,  and  such  was  his  high  standing 
in  that  country,  that  he  accepted  some  employment 
there,  under  O.  Cromwell,  and  never  returned  to  Ply- 
mouth, which  was  much  lamented  by  his  brethren  in 
the  colony. — Sec  Life  of  E.    W.  further  on. 

1649. —  The  death  of  Governor  Winthrop,  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, this  year,  1649,  was  considered  as  a  heavy 
loss  to  all  New  England.  It  occasioned  much  grief 
and  sorrow  at  Plymouth,  where  his  counsel  and  advice 
had  been  often  sought  and  received,  as  from  one  of 
sound  judgment  and  the  purest  integrity.  He  died  at 
the  age  of  sixty.  His  life  and  character  are  ably  de- 
lineated in  the  American  Biography,  and  by  many 
other  wrhers  who  have  been  justly  impressed  with 
his   worth   and  excellence.     His  Journal,  edited   by 


1651]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  105 

Hon.  James  Savage,  is  deserving  of  the  perusal  of  every 
family  in  New  England. 

Town  meetings  were  first  warned  to  be  held  in  the 
meeting  house,  and  selectmen  were  first  chosen  this 
year.     The  number  were  seven,  five  being  a  quorum. 

1651. — William  Thomas  died  this  year,  and  was 
honorably  buried  at  Marshfield.  Mr.  Thomas  was  one 
of  the  merchant  adventurers  in  England,  connected  with 
the  Plymouth  planters,  and  came  over  about  the  year 
1630.  Secretary  Morton  says  of  him,  '  that  he  was  a 
well  approved  and  well  grounded  Chiistian,  and  one 
that  had  a  sincere  desire  to  promote  the  common  good 
both  of  church  and  state.  He  was  chosen  an  assist- 
ant in  1642,  and  was  re-elected  to  that  office  annually 
until  his  death.'  His  son,  Nathaniel,  served  in  Phil- 
ip's war,  in  1675.  Many  of  his  descendants  reside  at 
Marshfield.  One  of  his  descendants,  General  John 
Thomas,  formerly  of  Kingston,  commanded  the  Amer- 
ican forces  at  Roxbury,  at  the  commencement  of  the 
revolutionary  war,  and,  after  the  death  of  general 
Montgomery,  succeeded  him  in  the  command  of  the 
army  in  Canada.  The  late  Hon.  Joshua  Thomas, 
of  this  town,  another  descendant,  was  one  of  his  aids 
in  that  service. 

Eight  wolves  were  killed  in  Plymouth,  and  two  in 
Duxbury. 

Nathaniel  Basset  and  Joseph  Prior  were  fined  twenty 
shillings  each,  for  disturbing  the  church  in  Duxbury ; 
and  at  the  next  town  meeting  or  training  day,  each  to  be 
bound  to  a  post  for  two  hours  in  some  public  place,  with 
a  paper  on  their  heads,  on  which  their  crime  is  written 
in  capital  letters.  Miss  J.  Boulton  for  slandering,  sen- 
tenced to  sit  in  the  stocks  during  the  court's  pleasure, 
and  a  paper  written  with  capital  letters  to  be  made  fast 
unto  her  all  the  time  of  her  sitting  there  ;  all  which  was 
performed  accordingly. 

The  town  of  Barnstable  was  presented  for  not  con- 
tributing to  build    Eel   river  bridge.     The  towns  of 


106  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [165i 

Sandwich,  Yarmouth,  and  Barnstable,  being  required 
to  build  it. 

Jonathan  Coventry,  of  Marshfield,  was  presented  fon: 
making  a  motion  of  marriage  to  Catharine  Bradbury\ 
without  her  master's  consent. 

L.  Ramsgate  was  ])resented  for  lying,  slandering 
and  defaming  her  brother-in-law,  T.  R. 

Joann,  the  wife  of  O.  Mosely,  was  presented  for  beating 
her  husband,  and  getting  her  children  to  help  her,  and 
bidding  them  knock  him  in  the  head,  and  wishing  his 
victuals  might  choak  him.     Punished  at  home. 

1655. — Edward    Winslow.     This    gentleman    was 
born  in  the  year  1594,  and  was  the  son  of   Edward 
Winslow,  of  Droitwich,  in  Worcestershire,  England. 
The  family  was  ancient  and  honorable.     In  early  life 
he  entered  on  a  course  of  travels  on  the  continent  of 
Europe,  and  forming  an  acquaintance  with  Rev.  John 
Robinson,  the  puritan  divine,  he  united  himself  with 
the    church    under   his    pastoral   care    while   at  Ley- 
den,   where  he  settled  and   married.     He    possessed: 
a  sound  intellect,  a  pious  heart,  and  happy    address, 
and  his  eminent  services   in  mitigating  the  sufferings^ 
and  promoting  the  settlement  of  the  pilgrims,   entitle 
him  to  the    gratitude  of  posterity.     Accordingly    we 
find   his  name  mentioned  with  honor  in  all  the  rec- 
ords of  transactions  pertaining  to  our  earliest  history. 
It  will  be  perceived  by  the  preceding  pages,  that  Mr. 
Winslow  emigrated  with  the  first  company  to  America 
in  the  Mayflower  in  1620,  his  family  consisting  of  his 
wife    Elizabeth,    and    three    other    persons.     On  his 
arrival  at  Cape  Cod,  he  subscribed  the  covenant  oft 
incorporation,  and  his  name  is  the    third  on  the  list.. 
He  was  one  of  the  company  who  first  explored  the  shores: 
and  harbors  of  Cape  Cod  and  Plymouth,  and  that  se- 
lected the  plac'e  as  the  foundation  of  the  first  town  to 
be  erected  in  the  New  England  territories.     His  wife 
died  March  24th,  1621,  and  on  the  12th  May  follow- 
ing he  married  Susanna,  the  widow  of  William  White. 


1655]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  107 

;  This  was  the  first  marriage   ever  solemnized  in  New 
England,  and   the  lady  was  the  mother  of  Peregrine 
White,  the  first  English  child  born  in  this  newly  dis- 
1]  covered  region.     Mr.  Winslow  held  the  first  interview 
iwith   Massasoit  on    Strawberry  hill,  and  volunteered 
ijhimself  a  hostage  while  governor  Carver  negotiated  a 
treaty  with  the  Sagamore,  April  2,  1621.     In  July  the 
;  same  year  he  performed  a  journey  to  Pokanoket,  the 
;  seat  of  Massasoit,  to  ascertain  his  situation  and  to  culli- 
vvate  his  friendship.     He  had  the  address  to  accom- 
plish the  object  of  his  mission  and  to  form  a  treaty  of 
amity  with  the  great  sachem.     In  March  1623,    he 
; again  visited  Massasoit,  accompanied   by  John  Hamp- 
den, and  ministered  to  his  relief  when  dangerously  sick, 
(See  page  59.)     He  was  despatched  to  England  in 
! September,  1623,  as  an  agent  to  transact  some  concerns 
for  the  colony,  and  in  the  short  time  of  six  months  he 
returned  to  Plymouth,   bringing  provisions,  clothing, 
and  the  first  stock  of  neat  cattle  ever  in  New  England. 
While  in  England    he    published  a  narrative    of  the 
settlement  and  transactions  of  the  colony  at  Plymouth, 
entitled  '  Good  News  from  New  England,  or  a  relation 
of  things  remarkable  in  that  plantation — by  Edward 
Winslow.'     This  narrative  is  abridged  in  Purchase's 
Pilgrims,  and  has  been  of  great  utility  to  all  succeed- 
ing historians.    Mr.  Winslow  being  personally  concerned 
in  all  the  transactions  which  he  related,  and  his  veracity 
unquestionable,  his  writings  are  considered  as  entitled 
to  unlimited    confidence    and    credit.     His    narrative 
contains  an  interesting  account  of  the   manners    and 
customs,  the  religious  opinions  and  ceremonies  of  the 
aboriginal  tribes  with  which  ho  had  made  himself  ac- 
quainted, and  his  writings  will  be  read  with  profit  by 
all    who    feel    an    interest  in    the    subject    and    have 
a  relish  for  simplicity  and   truth.     During  the  same 
year  he  wrs  again  sent  to  England  as  agent  for  the 
colony.     In  the  year  1625  he  was  elected  one  of  the 
five  assistants  in  the  colonial  government,  in  which  office 


108  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1655 


he  was  continued  till  1633,  when  he  was  elected  gov- 
ernor of  the  colony  for  one  year.     From  his  activity,, 
fortitude  and  perseverance,  Mr.  Winslow    was  welll 
qualified  to  conduct  enterprises  and  trading  voyages, 
which  he  willingly  performed  for  the   benefit  of  the  1 
company.      He    undertook    excursions    of    traffic    to 
Penobscot,  Kennebeck,  and  Connecticut  rivers.     In  . 
1635,  he  accepted  another  mission  to  England,  jointly  I 
for  the  colonies  of  Plymouth  and  Massachusetts.     The 
subjects  requiring  this  agency  were  the  infringements 
made  on  the  New  England  territories,  by  the  French  ' 
on  the  east,  and  the  Dutch  on  the  west,  and   also  to 
answer  complaints,  which  had  been  made  to  the  gov- 
ernment against  the  Massachusetts  colony,  by  Thomas  ; 
Moiton,  that  miscreant  who  for  his  turbulent  conduct  , 
at  Mount  Walliston,  had  been  twice  expelled  the  coun- 
try.    For  a  particular  detail  relative  to  the  execution 
of  this  mission  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  Ecclesias-  ^ 
tical  History  in  this  volume. 

When  Mr.  Winslow  returned  to  Plymouth,  1636, 
he  was  cordially  received,  and  elected  to  the  office  of  \ 
governor,  but  the  year  following  took  his  place  among  ; 
the  magistrates.  In  1643,  the  New  England  colonies  • 
united  into  a  confederacy  for  mutual  defence,  when  Mr. 
Winslow  was  chosen  one  of  the  commissioners  in  be- 
half of  Plymouth,  and  was  continued  in  that  office  three 
years,  when,  1646,  he  was  persuaded  to  undertake 
another  embassy  to  England,  to  answer  to  the  com- 
plaints of  Samuel  Gorton  and  others,  who  had  charged 
the  colonists  with  religious  intolerance  and  persecution. 
At  this  period  the  puritan  interest  in  England  was  pre- 
dominant, and  governor  Winslow  being  held  in  high 
estimation  for  his  excellencies,  by  those  in  power,  he 
was  enabled  to  accomplish  the  object  in  view  to  uni- 
versal satisfaction.  He  was  now  in  great  favor  with 
Oliver  Cromwell,  and  was  invited  to  accept  of  employ- 
ment in  his  service.  In  1654,  he  was  appointed  one 
of  the  commissioners  to  determine  the  value  of  the 


1655]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  109 

English  ships  seized  and  detained  by  the  king  of  Den- 
mark. This  commission  is  now  deposited  in  the  li- 
brary of  the  Pilgrim  Society,  presented  by  Mr.  Pelham 
Winslow,  of  Boston.  It  is  on  a  large  square  vellum, 
having  the  representation  of  the  protector  included  in 
the  first  letter.  The  last  public  service  of  governor 
Winslow  was  in  1<>55,  when  he  was  appointed  by 
Cromwell  one  of  three  commissioners  to  superintend 
the  operation^  of  the  fleet  and  army  sent  to  the  West 
Indies  under  admiral  Penn  and  general  Venables, 
where  he  fell  a  sacrifice  to  the  diseases  of  the  climate 
on  the  8th  of  May,  1655,  aged  61.  His  body  was 
committed  to  the  deep  with  the  honors  of  war,  forty- 
two  guns  being  fired  on  the  solemn  occasion. . 

The  New  England  Memorial,  and  whole  early  his- 
tory of  our  country,  bear  testimony  to  the  energy,  ac- 
tivity, and  well-directed  exertions  of  governor  Winslow, 
His  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  Indians  illustrate  his  be- 
nevolence and  piety.  The  society  for  propagating  the 
gospel  among  the  American  Indians  was  formed  prin- 
cipally under  his  influence  at  London,  and  it  continued 
under  the  name  of  the  London  Society  till  the  Ameri- 
can revolution.  His  Good  News  fiom  New  England  is 
a  very  rare  work.  The  Massachusetts  Historical  Socie- 
ty has  not  been  able  to  procure  a  copy  of  it;  an  abbre- 
viation of  it  is  in  Purchase's  Pilgrims,  and  is  republished 
in  the  eighth  volume  of  Collections.  His  account  of 
the  natives  of  New  England,  annexed  to  that  tract,  is 
inserted  entire  in  the  appendix  to  Belknap's  Biography, 
volume  second. 

Governor  Winslow's  settlement  in  this  country  was 
at  Marshfield,  county  of  Plynjouth,  where  he  had  a 
valuable  tract  of  land.  To  this  residence  he  gave  the 
name  of  Careswell,  from  a  castle  and  seat  of  that  name 
in  StrafFordshire  in  England,  as  Dr.  Belknap  con- 
jectures. The  peat  continued  in  the  Winslow  family 
till  within  the  last  few  )/»nirs.  It  will  be  conceded 
that  (ew  among  the  excellent  christian  puritans  sus- 
10 


110  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1655  • 

tained  a  higher  character  for  genuine  patriotism,  chris- 
tian benevolence  and  generous  sympathy  than  the  sub- 
ject of  this  memoir.  When  the  celebrated  Roger  Wil- 
liams had  by  his  eccentricities  deprived  himself  of  the 
favorable  regard  of  his  cotemporaries,  and  was  re- 
duced to  a  state  of  indigence,  governor  Winslow  ex- 
tended the  hand  of  charity  towards  him,  by  kind  ad- 
vice and  pecuniary  aid.  '  It  pleased  the  Father  of 
mercies,'  said  Mr.  Williams,  '  to  touch  many  hearts 
with  relentings,  among  whom  that  great  and  precious 
soul,  Mr.  Winslow,  melted,  and  kindly  visited  me  at 
Providence,  and  put  a  piece  of  gold  into  the  hands  of 
my  wife,  for  our  supply.' 

'In  New  England,'  says  Dr.  Holmes,  (Annals,)  'his 
name  will  never  be  forgotten.  His  portrait  is  an  excel- 
lent painting,  the  eye  is  black  and  expressive,  and  the 
whole  countenance  very  interesting.  The  portrait  is 
taken  with  whiskers.  Josiah,  son  of  Edward,  is  drawn 
without  them.  Beards  were  left  off  early  in  New  Eng- 
land, and  about  the  same  time  they  were  in  the  Old.' 

A  chair  made  of  Old  England  oak  was  screwed  to 
the  floor  of  the  cabin  of  the  Mayflower,  and  belonged 
to  the  Winslow  family.  It  was  known  to  have  been 
in  the  possession  of  Penelope  Winslow,  who  married 
James  Warren.  This  article  of  antiquity  is  now  in  the 
possession  of  Miss  Hannah  White  of  this  town,  who 
is  a  direct  descendant  of  Peregrine  White.  The 
Winslows  bequeathed  their  real  estate  to  their  sons,  and 
personal  to  their  daughters,  many  of  whom  were  from 
poverty  obliged  to  dispose  of  valuable  articles  out  of  the 
family,  as  diamond  rings,  silver  salvers,  silver  skillets,  and 
other  articles  of  plate.  Edward  Winslow  had  four 
brothers,  John,  Kenelm,  Gilbert,  and  Josiah,  and  three 
sisters,  Eleanor,  Elizabeth,  and  Maydelon.  Gilbert  ac- 
companied his  brother,  in  the  Mayflower,  1620.  John 
came  the  next  year  in  the  Fortune.  John  Winslow 
removed  to  Boston.  Josiah,  also,  the  youngest  brother, 
came  into  this  country.     One  of  the  brothers  settled 


1656]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  Ill 

at  Rochester,  one  at  Cape  Cod,  and  another  at  Ports- 
mouth, N.  H.  ,    ,     . 

1656.— This  year,  it  was  ordered  that  card  playing 
should  be  punished  by  a  fine  of  fifty  shillings.  Servants 
or  children,  playing  at  cards,  dice,  or  other  unlawful 
games,  for  the  first  offence  to  be  corrected  by  their 
parents  or  master  ;  for  the  second,  to  be  publicly 
whipped.  A  law  was  passed  by  which  a  magistrate, 
at  his  discretion,  was  authorized  to  inflict  corporal  pun- 
ishment on  all  who  denied  the  Scriptures  to  be  a  rule 

Vilifying  any  church  or  ordinance,  was  punished  by 
'  a  fine  of  ten  shihings. 

Profaning  the  Lord's  day,  by  a  fine  of  ten  shillings, 
or  a  public  whipping.  Neglecting  to  attend  public  wor^ 
ship  on  each  Lord's  day,  by  a  fine  of  ten  shillings. 

1656. — We  have  now  to  notice  the  lamented  death 
of  that  hero  of  the  Pilgrims,  Captain  Miles  Standish. 
He  died  at  his  residence  in  Duxbury,  this  year,  at  a 
very  advanced  age.  Captain  Standish  was  one  of 
the'^companions  of  Carver,  Bradford  and  Winslow,  in 
the  Mayflower,  and  shared  in  all  the  perils  and  priva- 
tions to  which  they  were  subjected.  He  was  one  of 
the  first  settlers  of  Duxbury,  but  resided  occasionally 
at  Plymouth,  especially  in  the  winter'months,  and  was 
the  principal  officer  of  the  garrison  at  that  place. 

In  1645,  when  warhke  movements  were  commenced 
against  the  Narragansets,  Standish  commanded  the  Ply- 
mouth troops.  In  1653,  when  hostilities  with  the  Dutch 
at  Manhattan  were  apprehended,  a  council  of  war  was 
appointed  in  Plymouth  colony,  of  which  Standish  was 
one.  Warrants  were  issued  for  the  impressment  of  60 
men,  and  Standish  was  appointed  to  command  them. 
It  thus  appears  that  he  continued  active  in  military  em- 
ployments, on  every  necessary  occasion,  until  whhin 
three  years  of  his  death.  He  was  frequently  one  of 
the  board  of  assistants.  After  the  loss  of  his  wife  in 
1620-1,  he  soon   married  again.      'In  the  assignment 


112  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [16^56<j 

of  lands  in  1623,  the  name  of  Mrs.  Standish  is  on  the^ 
list ;  we  know  not  the  previous  name  of  the  lady,  but 
it  appears  she  came  in  the  ship  Ann.  In  1627,  when 
the  catde  were  divided,  he  stands  at  the  head  of  the 
third  lot,  with  his  wife  Barbara.'  Charles,  Alexander, 
and  John,  his  children,  are  associated  with  him  in  that 
assignment.  Alexander  married  Sarah  Alden,  dauoh- 
ter  of  John  Alden.  Dr.  Belknap  informs  us  that  Dr. 
Wheelock,  President  of  Dartmouth  College,  and  the 
lather  of  Dr.  Kirkland,  President  of  Harvard  College, 
are  descended  from  him.  In  the  cabinet  of  the  Mas- 
sachusetts Historical  Society  are  exhibited  the  swords 
of  Standish,  Carver  and  Brewster.  The  possession 
would  be  more  precious,  if  their  identity  were  more 
satisfactorily  ascertained.'  (The  identical  sword  of 
Capt.  Standish  is  now  in  the  cabinet  of  the  Pilgrim  So- 
ciety, substantiated  by  unquestionable  authority.)  The 
Rev.  T.  Alden,  Jr.  in  his  collection  of  Epitaphs,  gives 
an  amusing  traditionary  anecdote  relative  to  the  connu- 
bial pursuits  of  Capt.  Standish,  and  his  friend  John 
Alden.  The  lady  who  had  gained  the  affections  of 
the  Captain,  is  said  to  have  been  Priscilla  Mullens, 
daughter  of  William  Mullens.  John  Alden  was  sent 
to  make  proposals  in  behalf  of  Standish.  The  mes- 
senger, though  a  pilgrim,  was  young  and  comely,  and 
the  lady,  with  perfect  naivete,  expressed  her  preference 
by  the  question,  Prithee,  John,  why  do  you  not  speak 
for  yourself^  The  Captain's  hopes  were  blasted,  and 
the  frank  overture  soon  ended  in  the  marriage  of  John 
Alden  and  Priscilla  Mullens,  from  whom,  we  are  in- 
formed, are  descended  all  of  the  name  of  Alden  in  the 
United  States.  The  Captain,  it  is  added,  never  forgave 
his  friend  Alden  to  the  day  of  his  death.  As  he  was 
so  soon  afterwards  united  to  another  lady  of  his  choice, 
we  may  hope  that  the  account  of  the  inveterate  resent- 
ment is  exaggerated.  Tlieir  long  connexion  together 
at  the  board  of  assistants,  their  settlement  in  the  same 
neighborhood,  and  their  family  connexion  by  the  inter-* 


1657]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  113 

marriage  of  their  children,  lead  us  to  presume  that  they 
lived  in  habits  of  friendship.  This  anecdote  has  often 
been  repeated  in  the  Old  Colony,  in  fire-side  chat 
about  the  pilgrinas,  but  with  circumstances  which  would 
refer  the  incident  to  a  later  period. — Memorial  Ap- 
pendix. 

Dr.  Belknap  gives  us  many  respectable  names  of 
the  honorable  house  from  which  Miles  Standish  descend- 
ed, beginning  with  Henry  Standish,  D.  D.  Bishop  of 
St.  Asaph,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  In  the  ac- 
count of  Duxbury,  (Historical  Collections,  vol.  ii.)  the 
name  of  the  town  is  supposed  to  have  been  assumed 
by  its  first  settlers,  in  allusion  to  iheir  captain  or  leader. 
This  appears  questionable.  The  compliment  would 
have  been  merited,  but  it  is  doubtful  whether  among 
such  a  people  it  would  have  been  proposed  or  admitted. 
In  '  Ancient  Vestiges,^  the  manuscript  in  the  note,  p. 
226  (Memorial)  there  is  this  remark  ;  '  So  late  as  1707, 
I  find  that  Sir  Thomas  Standish  lived  at  Duxbury,  the 
name  of  the  family  seat  in  Lancashire.' 

Captain  Standish,  it  is  said,  was  of  small  stature, 
but  of  a  fiery  temper,  and  perhaps  no  man  ever  pos- 
sessed a  more  daring  and  intrepid  spirit.  The  hill  so 
conspicuous  in  the  southeast  part  of  the  town  of  Dux- 
bury,  is  called  Captain's  Hill  or  Mount,  as  it  makes 
apart  of  the  farm  which  was  Captain  Standish's. 

1657.-On  the  9th  of  March,  William  Bradford,  gov- 
ernor of  the  colony,  was  called  to  join  the  congregation 
of  the  dead  in  the  sixty-ninth  year  of  his  age.  This 
bereavement  was  peculiarly  afflictive  to  the  pilgrims, 
for  he  w^as  one  who  had  shared  largely  in  their  perils, 
their  griefs,  and  toils,  and  was  revered  as  the  prop  and 
glory  of  the  colony.  He  was  born  in  England,  in 
1588.  Both  his  parents  dying  while  he  was  in  early 
youth,  he  was  left  to  the  protection  of  his  grand-pa- 
rents, and  after  them  to  his  uncles.  His  patrimony 
was  large,  but  his  station  in  life  was  amongst  the  yeo- 
manry, and  he  was  bred  to  agriculture.  The  early  loss 
10* 


114  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [165^7 

of  his  parents  probably  gave  a  serious  cast  to  his  mind, 
and  he  devoted  all  his  leisure  time  to  the  reading  of 
the  scriptures ;  and  notwithstanding  the  opposition  and 
angry  remonstrances  of  all  his  relations,  this  inexperi- 
enced youth  embraced  the  doctrines  which  were  taught 
by  the  venerable  Clifton,  and  afterwards  by  Robinson, 
and  became  one  of  their  most  devoted  followers.  He 
was  a  zealous  advocate  for  the  removal  of  tlie  company 
to  America,  and  was  a  passenger  in  the  Mayflower.  On 
their  arrival  at  Cape  Cod  harbor,  his  wife  unfortunately 
fell  overboard,  and  was  drowned  in  his  absence.  On 
the  death  of  governor  Carver,  although  only  thirty-two 
years  old,  and  confined  at  the  time  by  sickness,  he  was 
unanimously  elected  his  successor,  as  governor  of  the 
colony.  He  conducted  the  affairs  of  the  colony,  for 
the  greater  part  of  the  time,  as  chief,  and  two  or  three 
years  as  second  magistrate,  with  consummate  prudence 
and  ability,  for  a  period  of  more  than  thirty-one  years. 
'  In  the  transactions  with  the  Indians,  he  was  strictly 
just ;  and  after  those  unavoidable  sparklings  which  the 
neighborhood  of  two  races  of  men,  like  the  collision  of 
flint  and  steel,  are  sure  to  strike  out  at  first,  the  ani- 
mosities which  vicinage  engendered  were  allayed,  and 
he  preserved  the  relations  of  peace  unbroken.  His 
mingled  system  of  mildness  and  energy  conciliated  their 
affections,  and  extorted  their  respect.  When  neces- 
sary, he  alarmed  their  fears.  When  the  emblematic 
defiance  of  the  Sachem  of  the  Narragansetts  was 
conveyed  in  the  shape  of  a  bundle  of  arrows,  bound 
together  by  the  skin  of  a  serpent,  he  answered  it 
promptly,  by  sending  back  the  skin  filled  with  pow- 
der and  bullets.' — (See  page  49  of  this  vol.)  He 
soon  understood  all  the  peculiarities  of  their  simple 
characters.  His  sagacity  in  detecting,  and  his  energy 
in  overcoming,  the  designs  of  the  factionists,  were  on 
every  occasion  most  happily  displayed.  He  was,  at 
an  early  period,  aware  of  the  danger  of  supplying 
the  Indians  with  fire-arms,  and  warned  his  countrymen 


1657]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  115 

igainst  putting  such  formidable  instruments  into  their 
lands.  The  natives,  he  observed,  were  well  provided 
.vith  muskets,  powder  and  shot,  and  were  so  well  skilled 
n  their  use  as  even  to  keep  the  English  in  awe,  and 
^ive  the  law  to  them  when  they  pleased.  They  have 
iints,  screw  plates  and  moulds  for  shot,  and  can  mend 
and  new  stock  their  pieces  almost  as  w^ell  as  English- 
nien.  Thus  like  madmen,  we  put  them  in  the  way  to 
kill  us  with  our  own  weapons.  They  know  their  ad- 
vantage so  well,  they  scruple  not  to  say  that  they  can 
vvhen  they  please  drive  the  English  away  or  kill  them. 
It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  natives  were  supplied 
with  arms  and  ammunition  chiefly  by  the  people  of  the 
Massachusetts  colony.  Although  governor  Bradford's 
early  pursuits  were  unfavorable  to  the  cultivation  of 
learning,  yet  he  applied  himself  with  great  diligence  to 
.the  study  of  the  ancient  languages,  both  Greek  and 
JLatin.  Of  the  Hebrew  his  knowledge  was  intimate, 
land  the  French  and  Dutch  he  spoke  with  ease.  He 
read  much  on  subjects  of  history  and  philosophy. 
In  theology  he  was  deeply  versed,  and  few  there  were 
who  could  contend  with  him  successfully  in  a  polemical 
dispute.  He  wrote  considerably  ;  the  loss  of  his  valua- 
ble manuscript  history  of  the  colony  to  1646  can  never 
be  supplied.  As  chief  magistrate,  he  was  compelled 
to  deal  with  many  turbulent  spirits,  yet  he  seldom 
failed  to  enforce  respect  both  to  the  laws  and  the  mag- 
istrates, rather  by  appealing  to  the  sense  of  shame  and 
fear  of  self-degradation,  than  by  the  exercise  of  the 
penal  authority  of  the  government.  His  faith  endured 
to  the  last,  and  he  died  full  of  hope ;  conversing  with 
his  friends  on  the  day  of  his  death,  he  spoke  with  the 
cheerfulness  of  a  saint.  God,  said  he,  has  given  me  a 
pledge  of  my  happiness  in  another  world,  and  the  first 
fruits  of  eternal  glory.  '  Governor  Bradford,'  says 
Dr.  Cotton  Mather, '  died  lamented  by  all  the  colonists 
of  New  England,  as  a  common  father  of  them  all.' 
On  the  14th  August,   1624,   governor  Bradford  was 


0 

le' 


116  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [I65f 

married  to  Mrs.  Alice  Southworth,  a  lady  of  extraoi) 
dinary  capacity  and  worth.     There  was  an  early  a'o 
tachment,  it  is  said,  between  governor  Bradford  am 
Mrs.  Southworth,  and  their  marriage  was  preventetlgs 
by  her  parents  on  account  of  the  inferior  circumstance^  '0 
or  rank  of  Mr.  Bradford.     Being  now  a  widower, 
by  letters  to  England  made  overtures  of  marriage 
Mrs.  Southworth,  who  was  then  a  widow.     The  pro 
posal  was  accepted,  and  with  generous  resolution  sUhfi. 
embarked  in  the  ship  Ann,  in  1623,  to  meet  her  inr  ^ 
tended  partner,  who,  she  well  knew,  could  not  leav- 
his  responsible  station  in  the  infant  settlement.     He 
two  sons,  Thomas  and  Constant  Southworth,  came  ove 
with  her.     This  lady  was  well  educated  and  brough 
considerable  property  into  the  country.     She  died  ii 
1G70,  aged  80  years,  and  was  honorably  interred  oi 
the  29th  March,  at  New  Plymouth.     It  is  said  in  the 
old  colony  records,   *  She  was  a  godly  matron,  anC' 
much  loved  while  she  lived,  and  lamented,  though  aged 
when  she  died.'     Mrs.  Bradford  was  highly  eulogizec 
by  Elder  Faunce,  for  her  exertions  in  promoting  the 
literary  improvement  and  the  deportment  of  the  rising 
generation,  according  to  accounts  he  had  received  fronr 
some  of  her  cotemporaries.     Governor  Bradford  waaj? 
without  doubt  interred  on  our  burial  hill,  but  the  anti-i 
quarian  who  visits  the  place  must  be  impressed  with 
melancholy  regiet,  that  the  remains  of  one  so  e,nU 
nently  meritorious  as  was  this  excellent  man,  should 
be  suffered  to  moulder  in  the  dust  without  a  monu- 
mental stone  to  designate  the  spot.     There  is  at  each 
of  the  graves  of  the  two  sons,  an  ordinary  stone,  buti 
the  grave  of  the  illustrious  sire  is  level  with  the  earth,, 
and  known  only  by  tradition.     Even  at  this  remote 
period,  it  would  be  honorable  and  a  blessing  to  pos- 
terity,  could  a  suitable   monument   be  erected,    thati 
future    inquiring    antiquarians    might  know  where  tO) 
resort  to  lean  over  the  remains  and  meditate  on  the: 
virtues  and  glorious  deeds,  of  one  of  the  principal! 


^ l657] 


HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  117 


I'^  bunders  of  our  empire.  Greatly  should  we  rejoice  to 
/  566  the  venerated  name,  which  has  for  two  centuries 
'  ^  ieen  veiled  in  temporary  oblivion,  brought  forth  to 
^^^  bamortal  memory  by  a  grateful  posterity.  We  have 
^"•^  Sttle  doubt  but  this  desirable  object  might  be  effected, 
^'  tvere  a  subscription  to  be  put  In  circulation  for  that 
:^  i)urpose.  The  family  bible  of  governor  Bradford  is  still 
P"  !n  existence.  It  is  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Asa  Wa- 
;'  iers,  of  Stoughton,  who  exhibited  it  in  this  town  in 
''Dctober,  1831.  The  bible  was  printed  in  the  year 
•^  1592,  and  it  contains  a  written  hst  of  the  names  of  the 
^^  family  of  Elisha  Bradford,  who  was  the  grandson  of 
''governor  William  Bradford.  That  this  ancient  and 
'•'  honorable  family  may  be  traced  In  all  its  branches  to 
^'the  present  generation,  the  following  genealogical 
^  detail  is  here  recorded. 

Governor  Bradford  had  one  son  by  his  first  wife, 
whose  name  was  John.  He  was  deputy  from  Dux- 
bury  In  1652,  and  from  Marshfield  in  1653;  after 
which  he  is  frequently  mentioned  in  the  Plymouth  re- 
^f  cords  as  selectman,  and  on  various  committees  ;  and 
in  1690,  he  was  deputy  to  the  general  court  from  Ply- 
mouth. By  his  second  wife,  he  had  three  children, 
William,,  Mercy,  and  Joseph.  Mercy  married  Ben- 
jamin Vermage,  mentioned  in  the  Appendix  to  govern- 
or Winthrop's  History,  vol.  II.  p.  372.  William  Brad- 
ford, son  of  the  governor,  obtained  high  distinction  in 
i(|the  colony,  being  elected  an  assistant  soon  after  the 
decease  of  his  father,  and  chief  military  commander. 
He  had  the  title  of  Major,  and  was  an  officer  in  Phil- 
ip's war.  He  married  for  his  first  wife,  Alice  Rich- 
ards, by  whom  he  had  four  sons,  John,  William,  Tho- 
mas, and  Samuel.  Thomas  moved  to  Connecticut ; 
Samuel  settled  at  Duxbury,  from  whom  the  Bradfords 
in  that  place  descended.  William  Bradford's  second 
wife  was  the  widow  WIswall,  by  whom  he  had  one 
son,  Joseph,  who  moved  to  Connecticut.  His  third 
wife  was  Mrs.  Mary  Holmes,  widow  of  the  Rev.  John 


118  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [165 


! 


Holmes,  the  second  minister  of  Duxbury,  by  whon 
he  had  four  sons,  Israel,  Ephraim,  David,  and  Heze 
kiah.  When  the  colonial  government  terminated  ii 
1692,  Major  Bradford  was  deputy  governor,  and  aff 
terwards  was  chosen  counsellor  of  Massachusetts.  Hef 
died  February  20th,  1703,  aged  seventy-nine  years.  In 
his  will,  dated  Jan.  29th,  1703,  he  provides  for  nimj 
sons  and  six  daughters,  by  which  it  appears  that  he  hac' 
fifteen  children — a  noble  bequest  to  the  new  territory 
The  late  aged  Ebenezer  Cobb,*  of  Kingston,  remem- 
bered the  funeral  of  deputy  governor  Bradford.  The 
public  road  being  obstructed  by  a  deep  snow,  the 
corpse  was  brought  from  the  family  residence  near' 
Jones's  river,  along  the  sea-shore,  it  being  the  express' 
desire  of  the  deceased  to  be  buried  near  the  body  ol 
his  father.  His  tombstone  indicates  the  spot  where 
the  governor  was  probably  interred  :  the  father  lying 
on  the  east  side  of  the  son,  while  the  other  son,  Jo- 
seph, lies  in  another  row  northerly. 

The  governor's  son  Joseph  lived  near  Jones's  riv- 
er, had  a  son  named  Elisha,  who  had  several  children. 
He  died  July  10th,  1715,  in  the  eighty-fifth  year  of 
his  age,  and  was  buried  on  the  Burial-hill  at  Plymouth. 
Major  John  Bradford,  son  of  Major  William,  married 
Mercy  Warren,  daughter  of  Joseph  Warren.  Their 
children  were  John,  Alice,  Abigail,  Mercy,  Samuel, 
Priscilla,  and  William.  He  died  December  8th, 
1736,  in  the  eighty-fourth  year  of  his  age.  Mercy, 
his  widow,  died  1747,  in  her  ninety-fourth  year. 
Lieut.  Samuel  Bradford,  son  of  the  aforesaid  Major r 
John  Bradford,  married  Sarah  Gray,  daughter  of  Ed- 
ward Gray,  of  Tiverton,  Rhode  Island,  and  grand- 
daughter of  Edward  Gray  of  Plymouth.  Their  issue '| 
were  John,  Gideon,  William,  who  died  young,  Mary,  ,jF 
Sarah,    William,  Mercy,  who  died   young,   Abigail,  '^ 


*  Mr.  Ebenezer  Cobb  was  an  inhabitant  of  Kingston,  and  died 
December  8th,  1801,  aged  107  years,  eight  months,  and  six  days. 


v657]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  119 

?hebe,  and  Samuel.  The  aforesaid  Lieut.  Samuel 
Bradford,  lived  and  died  in  Plympton,  1740,  aged  fif- 
y-six  years.  His  widow  married  William  Hunt,  of 
Vlartha's  Vineyard,  and  died  in  1770.  The  Hon. 
>Villiam  Bradford,  late  of  Bristol,  Rhode  Island,  was 
L  son  of  the  above  Samuel  Bradford.  He  was  born 
it  Plympton,  Nov.  4th,  1729,  and  died  in  July,  1808. 
ie  was  deputy  governor  of  Rhode  Island,  speaker  of 
he  house  of  representatives,  and  member  of  congress. 
^is  residence  was  near  the  celebrated  Mount  Hope, 
md  the  story  of  King  Philip,  the  aboriginal  proprietor, 
vas  familiar  to  his  mind.  His  descendants  are  nume- 
•ous.  Gideon  Bradford,  son  of  the  above  Lieut.  Sam- 
lel  Bradford,  married  Jane  Paddock,  and  nad  issue, 
Levi,  Joseph,  Sarah,  Samuel,  Gideon,  Calvin,  and 
fenney.  He  died  in  Plympton,  1793,  in  his  seventy- 
ifth  year.  Levi,  son  of  the  above  Gideon,  married 
Elizabeth  Lewis.  Their  children  were  Lewis,  Jo- 
seph, Levi,  Daniel,  Ezra,  Elizabeth,  and  Sarah.  He 
lied  in  Homer,  N.  Y.  1812,  aged  seventy-nine  years. 

Colonel  Gamaliel  Bradford  descended  from  the  first 
Samuel.  He  lived  at  Duxbury,  and  commanded  a 
-egiment  of  continental  troops  during  the  revolutionary 
ivar.  His  son  Gamaliel,  entered  the  American  army 
when  a  youth,  and  was  an  officer  at  the  close  of  the 
war.  He  possessed  a  patriotic  spirit  and  a  noble 
mind,  and  was  distinguished  in  various  pursuits  in  pri- 
vate hfe.  Another  son  of  Gamaliel  is  the  present  Al- 
den  Bradford,  for  several  years  secretary  of  our  com- 
monwealth, and  the  author  of  a  valuable  history  of 
Massachusetts,  and  the  president  of  the  Pilgrim  So- 
ciety. 

While  destitute  of  horses,  it  was  not  uncommon  for 
people  to  ride  on  bulls ;  and  there  is  a  tradition  that 
when  John  Alden  went  to  Cape  Cod  to  be  married  to 
Priscilla  Mullens,  he  covered  his  bull  with  a  handsome 
piece  of  broadcloth,  and  rode  on  his  back.  On  his 
return,  he  seated  the  bride  on  the  bull,  and  led  the 
animal  by  a  rope  fixed  in  the  nose  ring. 


120  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1657 

The  first  notice  of  horses  on  record  is  in  1644,  when 
a  mare  belonging  to  the  estate  of  Stephen  Hopkins  was 
appraised  at  £6  sterling.  In  1647,  in  the  inventory 
of  Thomas  Biise,  a  colt  was  appraised  at  £4  sterling. 
In  1647,  in  Joseph  Holliway's  inventory  one  mare  and 
a  year  old  colt  were  appraised  at  £  14.  In  June,  1  657, 
the  colony  court  passed  an  act  that  every  freeholder 
that  kept  three  mares,  and  would  keep  one  horse  for 
military  service,  should  be  freed  from  all  military  ser- 
vice, training  and  watching. 

In  1665  the  colony  court  made  a  present  of  a  horse 
to  King  Philip.  It  would  gratify  curiosity  to  know  in 
what  manner  King  Philip,  and  the  natives  in  general 
were  affected  by  the  first  sight  of  horses  and  cows; 
their  minds  must  have  been  overwhelmed  with  astonish- 
ment to  see  men  riding  on  horses  and  bulls. 

Trouble  with  the  Quakers.  This  year  was  rendered 
memorable  by  an  unhappy  commotion  and  personal 
collision  with  a  new  sect  of  religionists,  styled  Quakers. 
This  controversy  would  seem  to  have  been  engender- 
ed by  a  spirit  of  fanaticism,  approaching  to  frenzy, 
on  one  part,  and  of  pious  zeal,  allied  to  bigotry,  on  the 
other.  Our  puritan  fathers  having  experienced  the 
bitterness  of  intolerance  and  persecution  from  tyrants, 
were  willing  that  a  measure  of  the  same  spirit  should  1 
be  construed  into  the  rights  of  conscience,  and  become 
a  duty  when  exercised  by  themselves.  That  confiding 
temper  in  the  purity  of  their  own  sentiments,  and  re- 
ligious ardor  for  the  glory  of  God,  could  not  brook  the 
smallest  deviation  h-orn  the  course  which  they  deemed 
strictly  orthodox;  and  their  jealous  apprehensions  of 
heresy  led  them,  on  some  occasions,  to  acts  inconsist- 
ent with  their  professed  principles  of  Clu'istian  liberty 
and  charity.  But  palliating  circumstances  in  the  case 
must  not  be  overlooked.  In  their  religious  and  local 
concerns,  the  puritans,  about  this  period,  were  reduced 
to  a  deplorable  condition.  Not  a  few  of  their  society 
had  manifested  a  coolness  and  indifference  to  the  stated 


S657]  HISTOKY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  121 

preaching  of  the  gospel  by  qualified  clergymen,  prefer- 
ring to  exercise  their  own  personal  gifts.  An  alarming 
defect  of  reverence  and  support  of  ministers  was  spread- 
ing through  other  towns  in  the  colony,  and  schisms  in 
churches  were  not  unfrequent.  No  less  than  five  dis- 
tinguished ministers  in  the  colony  were  obliged  to  sep- 
arate from  their  societies  for  the  want  of  support,  and 
two  others  died,  and  all  their  places  remained  luisup- 
plied  about  the  same  time.  Three  other  parishes  were 
also  destitute.  It  was  at  this  critical  juncture  that  the 
vexatious  intrusion  of  the  quakers  occurred,  to  their 
great  annoyance.  Not  only  were  their  tenets  at  first 
deemed  exceedingly  obnoxious,  and  even  blasphem- 
ous, but  the  demeanor  of  some  individuals  of  the  sect 
was  audacious  and  provoking  beyond  endurance.— 
*  When  the  quakers  appeared  in  New  England,'  says 
Hon.  Mr.  Baylies,  '  it  was  during  their  first  efferves- 
cence ;  the  materials  were  still  fermenting,  and  had  not 
as  yet  worked  off  the  scum  and  the  dregs,  which  all 
new  religious  sects  are  sure  to  bring  up.' 

It  was  ordered  by  the  court,  that  in  case  any  shall 
bring  in  any  quaker,  ranter,  or  other  notorious  here- 
tic, either  by  land  or  water,  into  any  part  of  this  gov- 
ernment, he  shall  forthwith,  upon  order  of  any  one 
magistrate,  return  them  to  the  place  from  whence  they 
came,  or  clear  the  government  of  them,  on  the  penal- 
ty of  paying  a  fine  of  205.  for  every  week  that  they 
shall  stay  in  the  government,  after  warning.  A  more 
severe  law  was  afterwards  passed.  '  It  is  therefore 
enacted  by  the  court  and  authority  thereof,  that  no 
quaker,  or  person  commonly  so  called,  be  entertained 
,by  any  person  or  persons  within  this  government,  un- 
der penally  of  £5  for  every  such  default,  or  be  whi|»t.' 

On  the  Cth  of  October,  1657,  Humphrey  Norton, 
claiming  to  be  a  prophet,  was  summoned  to  appear  at 
the  court,  and  on  examination  found  guilty  (accord- 
ing to  the  court  record)  of  divers  horrid  errors.  He 
was  sentenced  speedily  to  depart  the  government,  and 
11 


12^  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [165T 

the  under-marshal  was  required  to  take  him  into  cus- 
tody, and  to  conduct  him  to  Assonet,  near  Rhode  Island. 

*  The  spirit  of  Norton  was  not  subdued,  and  he  return- 
ed again  into  the  Plymouth  jurisdiction,  accompanied 
by  one  John  Rouse.  These  quakers  appeared  at  the 
court  in  June,  1658,  and  were  apprehended  and  com- 
mitted to  prison.  AVhen  they  were  examined  before 
the  court,  Norton  said  sundry  times  to  the  governor, 

*  Prince,  thou  lyest ;  Thomas,  thou  art  a  malicious 
man.'  The  conduct  of  Rouse  was  equally  turbulent. 
They  were  remanded,  but  in  a  short  time  were  again 
brought  before  the  court.  Norton  again  abused  the 
governor  with  much  foul  language,  saying,  '  Thy  cla* 
morons  tongue  I  regard  no  more  than  the  dust  under 
my  feet ;  and  thou  art  like  a  scolding  woman,  and 
thou  pralest  and  deridest  me,'  he. 

Norton  and  Rouse  were  severally  required,  that,  ag> 
they  professed  themselves  to  be  subjects  to  the  state 
of  England,  they  should  take  an  oath  of  fidelity  to  be 
true  to  that  state,  which  they  refused  to  do,  saying  they 
would  take  no  oath  at  all.  On  this  refusal  they  were 
sentenced  to  a  whipping.  This  punishment  w^as  inflict- 
ed, for  which  the  under-marslial  required  a  fee.  They 
refused  to  pay,  and  were  again  committed  to  prison, 
where  they  remained  until  they  compromised  with  the 
marshal,  and  left  the  jurisdiction.* 

Norton  afterwards  addressed  the  governor  by  let- 
ter in  such  language  as,  '  Thomas  Prince,  thou  hast 
bent  thy  heart  to  work  wickedness,  and  with  thy  tongue 
hast  set  forth  deceit  ;  thou  imaginest  mischief  upon  thy 
bed,  and  hatchest  thy  hatred  in  thy  secret  chamber; 
the  strength  of  darkness  is  over  thee,  and  a  malicious 
mouth  hast  thou  opened  against  God  and  his  anoint- 
ed, and  with  thy  tongue  and  lips  hast  thou  uttered 
perverse  things  ;  thou  hast  slandered  the  innocent,  by 

*  In  our  times  we  should  thiuk  that  puhlic  whipping  is  a  suffi- 
cient punishment,  without  obHging  the  culprit  to  pay  the  whipper's 
fee. 


i658]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  123 

railing,  lying,  and  false  accusations,  and  with-  thy  bar- 
barous heart  hast  thou  caused  their  blood  to  be  shed,' 
&c.  Sic. — 'John  Alden  is  to  thee  like  unto  a  pack- 
horse,  where  upon  thou  layest  thy  beastly  bag ;  curs- 
ed are  all  they  that  have  a  hand  therein  ;  the  cry  of 
vengeance  will  pursue  thee  day  and  night.'  After 
continuing  in  this  strain  at  great  length,  he  closes  thus, 
^  The  anguish  and  pain  that  will  enter  thy  veins  will 
be  like  gnawing  worms  lodging  betwixt  thy  heart  and 
hver.  When  these  things  come  upon  thee,  and  thy 
back  bowed  down  with  pain,  in  that  day  and  hour 
thou  shalt  know  to  thy  grief  that  prophets  of  the  Lord 
God  we  are,  and  the  God  of  vengeance  is  our  God.' 
Norton  addressed  a  letter  to  John  Alden,  one  of  the 
assistants  and  a  member  of  the  court,  couched  in  lan- 
guage equally  abusive  as  the  above. 

If  the  primitive  government  of  Plymouth  rendered 
itself  censurable  for  the  rigor  of  its  laws,  and  the  cruel- 
ty of  the  punishments  inflicted  on  the  quakers,  their 
posterity  have  the  consoling  reflection,  that  among  the 
honorable  society  of  quakers  at  the  present  day,  no 
one  can  be  found  that  would  give  countenance  to  such 
outrageous  conduct  as  that  of  Norton  and  Rouse  ;  so 
on  the  other  hand,  may  we  safely  vouch,  that  none 
among  the  descendants  of  the  puritan  fathers  will  pre- 
tend to  find  a  justification  of  the  harsh  measures  prose- 
cuted against  them.  Most  happy  is  the  day,  when 
these  opposing  sects  are  harmoniously  united  in  chris- 
tian charity,  and  in  brotherly  love  ;  the  quakers  distin- 
guished for  benevolence,  purity  of  morals,  and  peace- 
ful demeanor,  their  friends  for  erudhion,  liberahty  of 
sentiment  and  christian  knowledge  and  philanthropy. 
But  the  reader  has  not  yet  learnt  the  whole  history  of 
the  quaker  controversy. 

Several  other  disfranchising  laws   were  passed  by 

'  the  Plymouth  general  court  against  these  people.     On 

the  8th  of  May,  1659,  five  men  and  one  woman  were 

jsentenced,  according  to  a  previous  order  of  court,  to 


^^"^  HISTORY   OF    PLYMOUTK.  (1659^ 

banishment,  to  depart  out  of  the  jurisdiction  by  the 
8th  day  of  June,  on  pain  of  death  ;  delaying,  they  were 
to  be  imprisoned,  tried,  and  if  found  guilty  of  the 
breach  of  this  law,  were  to  be  put  to  death.  The  fol- 
lowing judicious  observations  are  cited  from  Hon.  F. 
Baylies,  vol.  ii.  p.  38.  '  The  quakers  who  first  appear- 
ed in  the  colony  of  Plymouth  were  not  inhabitants, 
but  came  from  abroad.  Although  they  professed  the 
principles  of  peace  and  benevolence,  yet  tbey  waged 
a  furious  war  against  a  religion  which  was  much  en- 
deared to  the  people  whom  they  were  endeavoring  to 
proselyte ;  for  which  that  people  had  suffered  much, 
and  were  'impressed  with  a  strong  conviction  of  its 
truth.' 

Their  laws,  their  government,  their  forms  of  wor- 
ship, all  which  they  had  been  taught  to  venerate,  and 
accustomed  to  love,  were  denounced  in  no  very  civil 
terms  by  strangers.  Their  magistrates  and  ministers 
were  reviled  in  terms  of  insolent  abuse  ;  it  is  not  sur- 
prising, therefore,  that  they  should  have  attempted  to 
check  (what  appeared  to  them  to  be)  blasphemy  and 
impiety.  Although  these  new  expounders  of  "scrip- 
ture styled  themselves  the  prophets  of  God,  yet  it  was 
not  an  unnatural  or  strange  belief,  in  that  day,  that 
they  should  have  been  regarded  as  men  'possess- 
ed with  demons.'  '  To  check  their  disorders,  ban- 
ishment was  deemed  the  mildest  punishment.  Nor- 
ton was  sent  beyond  thesetdements,  hut  on  the  next 
year  he  returned,  in  defiance  of  the  government. 
It  is  not  unlikely  that  the  deportment  of  governor 
Prince  to  Norton  was  domineering  and  arrogant,  for 
he  detested  schismatics,  and  hated  those  who  des- 
pised and  derided  '  human  learning.'  Yet  one  far 
more  indulgent  than  the  governor,  in  the  same  station, 
must  have  been  possessed  of  uncommon  self-command, 
if  he  could  have  tolerated  personal  insults,  and  tamely 
have  suftered  himself  to  have  been  called  a  '  liar  '  and 
'  a  malicious  man,'  while  in  the  very  exercise  of  bis  U^h 


1660]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  125 

authority  on  the  judgment  seat,  and  presiding  in  the 
court.  Even  in  these  times,  under  the  system  of  tol- 
eration, and  with  a  mitigated  penal  code,  '  contempt  of 
court '  is  deemed  a  high  offence,  and  is  punished  ac- 
cordingly. Still  it  is  best  that  the  hand  of  power 
should  fall  gently  on  all  those  who  pretend,  (even  if 
it  be  nothing  but  pretence,)  to  act  under  the  impulse 
of  religious  feeling.  The  errors  of  honest  and  sincere 
zealots  are  to  be  excused,  not  punished,  unless  the  or- 
der and  peace  of  society  are  disturbed  to  such  a  de- 
gree that  the  restraint  of  the  offender  becomes  an  act 
of  necessity.' 

During  this  high  excitement  in  the  colony,  and  still 
greater  in  that  of  Massachusetts,  Mr.  Cudworth,  Mr. 
AUerton,  and  some  others,  appeared  in  opposition  to 
the  measures  pursued  against  the  quakers,  in  conse- 
quence of  which  they  became  so  unpopular  that  they 
were  left  out  of  their  offices  of  magistrates.  At  length, 
the  court  w^ere  disposed  to  try  the  effect  of  a  more 
conciliatory  treatment.  For  the  purpose  of  bringing 
the  quakers  to  a  sense  of  their  mistakes,  the  laws  were 
so  far  relaxed  as  to  permit  certain  persons  to  attend 
their  meetings,  '  to  endeavor  to  reduce  them  from  the 
error  of  their  ways ;'  this  permission  was  given  to 
Isaac  Robinson,  the  son  of  the  celebrated  Leyden 
pastor,  and  three  others.  *  But,'  says  Mr.  Baylies, 
'  the  government  were  not  aware  of  their  danger.  The 
fanaticism  of  a  new  sect  is  always  an  overmatch,  for 
that  which  has  been  cooled  and  tempered  by  time.' 
Isaac  Robinson,  an  excellent  and  sensible  man,  who 
had  received  the  permission  of  the  court  to  attend 
these  meetings,  instead  of  convincing  the  quakers  of 
their  errors,  became  self-convicted,  embraced  many  of 
their  doctrines,  and  consequently  rendered  himself  so 
obnoxious,  that  he  was  dismissed  from  civil  employ- 
ment, and  exposed  to  much  censure  and  some  indig- 
nity. 

-     Id  1660,  the  alarm  not  having  entirely   subsided, 
11^ 


120  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOTJTH*  [1658 

the  court  of  Plymouth  were  induced  to  pass  additional 
laws  to  stem  the  torrent  of  quakerism.  All  persons 
were  now  authorized  to  apprehend  such  quakers^ 
and  to  deliver  them  to  the  constables,  that  they  might 
be  carried  before  the  governor  or  some  magistrate. 
And  to  prevent  their  speedy  passage  from  place  to 
place,  to  '  poison  the  inhabitants  with  their  cursed 
tenets,'  all  persons  were  prohibited  from  supplying 
them  with  horses,  on  pain  of  forfeiture,  and  their  own 
horses  were  also  made  liable  to  forfeiture. 

It  was  also  enacted,  that  any  one  that  shall  bring  in 
any  quaker  or  ranter,  by  land  or  water  into  this  gov- 
ernment, viz.  by  being  a  guide  to  them  or  any  other 
wise,  shall  be  fined,  to  the  use  of  the  government,  the 
sum  of  £10  for  every  default.  'If  the  quakers  or 
such  like  vagabonds  shall  come  into  any  town  of  this 
government,  the  marshal  or  constable  shall  apprehend 
him  or  them,  and  upon  examination  so  appearing,  he 
shall  whip  them,  or  cause  them  to  be  whipped  with 
rods,  so  it  exceed  not  fifteen  stripes.  It  was  also 
enacted  that  all  persons  permitting  the  quakers  to  hold 
meetings  in  their  houses,  on  conviction  before  the  gen- 
eral court,  should  be  publicly  whipped,  or  pay  £5. 

But  I  am  exceeding  my  intended  limits  on  this 
theme;  and  however  interesting  may  be  the  sequel,  I 
shall  only  add  that  '  in  a  few  years  there  appeared  a 
revulsion  in  the  popular  feeling,  and  Mr.  Cudworth,  Mr. 
Brown,  and  Isaac  Robinson  were  restored  to  favor.' 

The  tra2;edy  at  Boston  produced  a  deep  sympathy 
for  the  sufferers,  and  when  it  was  seen  that  the 
quakers  could  die  for  their  faith,  the  people  could  not 
resist  the  belief  that  they  were  sincere.* 

*  In  July,  1656,  Mary  Fisher  and  Ann  Austin,  both  of  the  de- 
nomination of  quakers,  arrived  at  Boston,  from  Barbadocs,  and 
about  a  month  afterwards  eight  more  came  into  that  colony  from 
Rhode  Island. 

The  first  quakers  who  appeared  in  New  England,  arrived  in  Ju- 
ly. The  general  court  of  Massachusetts  considered  them  alike 
hostile  to  civil  and  to  ecclesiastical  order,  passed  sentence  of  ban  - 


1658] 


HISTORY   OF    PLYMOUTH.  127 


August  2\st,  1658.— -Died  William  Paddy,  aged  58 
years. 

Mr.  Paddy  for  several  years  was  elected  deputy  to 
the  general  court  for  Plymouth,  and  was  also  a  deacon 
of  the  church,  and  possessed  considerable  wealth.  He 
sustained  an  irreproachable  character,  was  devoted  to 
the  best  interests  of  the  colony,  and  was  useful  in  both 
church  and  state.  He  removed  to  Boston  in  1651. 
He  had  two  sons  born  in  Plymouth,  Thomas  and 
Samuel,  but  the  name  appears  to  be  now  extinct.* 

It  was  this  year  ordered  that  profaning  the  Lord's 
day  by  travelling,  carrying  burdens,  &ic.  be  fined  twenty 
shillings,  or  set  in  the  stocks  four  hours. 

M.  B.  having  been  sentenced  for  telling  a  lie,  the  court 
having  examined  particulars,  have  cleared  her,  but 
desired  Mr.  Hatherly,  from  the  court  to  admonish  her 
to  be  wary  of  giving  offence  to  others  by  unnceces- 
sary  talking.  J.  W.  to  be  sharply  reproved  for  wri- 
ting a  note  on  common  business  on  Lord's  day.  E.  H. 
for  telling  a  lie,  and  R.  J.  for  neglecting  public  wor- 
ship, fined  ten  shillings  each. 

The  court  appointed  Josiah  Winslow  and  Constant 
Southworth,  with  the  treasurer,  to  agree  with  workmen 

isliment  en  twelve  persons  of  that  sect,  the  whole  number  then  in 
the  colony.  The  most  san^ruinary  laws  were  passed  against  the 
sect  by  the  ]Massachusetts  general  court,  which  may  be  found  in 
Hutchinson,  Hubbard,  and  Hazard.  In  1659,  two  men  and  one 
woman  were  tried  before  the  £;eneral  court  of  Massachusetts,  and 
sentenced  to  die.  The  two  men  Avere  executed,  and  the  woman, 
Mary  Dyer,  was  reprieved,  on  condition  of  her  departure  from  the 
jurisdiction  in  forty-eight  hours;  and  if  she  returned,  to  suffer  the 
sentence.  She  was  carried,  however,  to  the  gallows;  and  stood 
with  a  rope  about  her  neck  until  the  others  were  executed.  This 
infatuated  woman  returned,  and  was  executed  in  1660.  Many  of 
these  deluded  people  actually  courted  persecution. 

*  A  singular  incident  occurred  at  Boston  in  the  summer  of  1830. 
Some  workmen  employed  in  removing  the  earth  from  the  north 
side  of  the  Old  State  House,  dug  up  a  tombstone,  considerable  bro- 
ken, on  one  side  of  which  was  the  following  inscription  : 

'  Here  lyeth  the  body  of  Mr.  William  Paddy.  Departed  this  life 
August  1658.*  From  the  records  it  appears  that  he  was  one  of  the 
selectmen  of  Boston  at  the  time  of  his  death. 


128  HISTORY   OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1661 

to  erect  a  house  of  correction,  to  be  added  to  the  pri- 
son, fourteen  feet  in  length,  with  a  chimney  to  it. 

1660. — The  council  of  war  ordered,  that  during  any 
appearance  of  danger,  a  mihtary  watch  be  kept  in  each 
town  in  the  most  convenient  places  for  giving  an  alarm, 
and  also  to  watch  the  sea  coast  and  observe  the  motions 
of  any  ships  that  may  appear.  The  firing  of  three 
muskets  shall  make  an  alarm  in  the  night,  and  fires  to 
be  made  where  the  alarm  is  given.  The  Dutch  and 
French  to  be  considered  as  common  enemies.  The 
following  instance  of  marriage  may  perhaps  be  ascribed 
to  quaker  influence.  R.  W.  and  M.  C.  for  marrying 
disorderly,  and  without  parents'  consent,  one  sentenced 
to  pay  £10  fine,  and  imprisoned  during  pleasure  of 
court ;  and  being  desirous  of  being  orderly  married, 
were  accordingly,  this  9th  of  March,  1660.  E.  M. 
for  accompanying  and  countenancing  the  above  men- 
tioned persons,  fined  twenty  shillings.  R.  B.  sum- 
moned to  appear  to  answer  for  speaking  contemptu- 
ously of  singing  psalms,  and  was  convicted  of  the  fact, 
and  promised  that  he  would  be  warned  of  so  doing  for 
the  future.  The  court  sharply  admonished  him,  and 
that  he  should  acknowledge  his  fault,  which  he  engaged 
to  do,  and  was  discharged. 

1661. — At  the  court  which  assembled  in  June,  a 
loyal  declaration  was  made  in  favor  of  King  Charles  II. 
who  had  been  restored  to  the  throne  of  his  ancestors. 

R.  Smith  for  lying  concerning  seeing  a  whale  and 
other  things,  fined  twenty  shillings.  A.  Bessey  for  her 
cruel  and  unnatural  practice  towards  her  father-in-law, 
G.  Barlow,  in  chopping  of  him  in  the  back,  fined 
twenty  shillings,  or  to  be  whipped. 

D.  B.  and  M.  B.  for  the  like  towards  their  said 
father-in-law,  not  in  so  high  degree,  both  sentenced  to 
sit  in  the  stocks  during  the  pleasure  of  court,  which 
was  performed.  / 

The  colony  during  this  year  sold,  for  £400  ster- 
ling, their  lands  on  Kennebec  river,  to  Antipas  Boyes, 


1662]  HISTORY    OP    PLYMOUTH.  129 

Edward  Tyng,  Thomas   Brattle,   and  John  Winslow, 
and  they  originated  the  celebrated  Plyniouth  company. 

£60  was  assessed  for  purchasing  a  place  for  the 
minister  at  Plymouth. 

1662. — S.  H.  for  carrying  a  grist  of  corn  from  mill 
lOn  Sunday,  fined  20  shillings,  or  to  be  whipped. 

W.  F.  for  suffering  him  to  take  it  from  the  milj^ 
fined  10  shillings. 

William  Randall  for  telling  a  lie,  fined  10  shillings. 

Clark's  island  was  now  abandoned,  and  not  improv- 
ed  by  any  one. 

Town  expenses,  £25.  55.  Sd.  Ten  pounds  was 
assessed  to  procure  bellows  and  tools  for  a  smith,  for 
the  use  of  the  town. 

Philip,  sachem  of  Pokanoket,  made  his  appearance 
at  the  court  of  Plymouth,  and  solicited  the  continu- 
ance of  the  amity  and  friendship  which  had  subsisted 
between  the  governor  of  Plymouth  and  his  father 
(Massasoit)  and  brother.  To  that  end  he  desired,  for 
himself  and  his  successors,  that  they  might  forever  re- 
main subject  to  the  king  of  England,  his  heirs  and 
successors  ;  and  promised  that  he  and  his  would  truly 
and  exactly  observe  and  keep  inviolable  such  condi- 
tions as  had,  formerly  been  made  by  his  predecessors  ; 
and  particularly  that  he  would  not,  at  any  time,  need- 
lessly or  unjustly  provoke  or  raise  war  with  any  of  the 
natives  ;  nor  give,  sell,  or  dispose  of  any  lands  to 
strangers,  or  to  any  others  without  their  privity  or  ap- 
pointment ;  but  would  in  all  things  endeavor  to  live 
peaceably  and  inoffensively  towards  the  English.  The 
court  expressed  their  willingness  to  continue  the 
friendship  ;  and  promised  to  afi?brd  the  Indians  such 
friendly  assistance  by  advice  and  otherwise,  as  they 
justly  might,  and  to  require  their  own  people  at  all 
times  to  maintain  a  friendly  conduct  towards  them. 
The  original  name  of  Philip  was  Matacomet.  Mather 
says,  it  was  at  this  time  that  he  desired  an  English 
pame,  and  that  the  court  named  him  Philip.     Judge 


130  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1663 

Davis  savs,  *  After  tlie  death  of  Massasoil,  about  the 
year  1656.  his  two  sons,  AVainsutta  and  Metacomet, 
came  to  the  court  at  Plymouth,  and  professing  ^reat 
respect,  requested  English  names  might  be  given  them. 
Wamsutta,  the  eldest  brother,  was  thereupon  named 
Alexander  :  tlie  youngest,  Metacomet,  was  called  Phi- 
lip.'— ^'ote  on  .^lorton.  The  agreement  in  court  was 
soon  alter  the  death  of  Alexander. — Holmes'  Annals  * 

1663. — Mr.  John  Brown,  who  had  frequently  been 
an  assistant  in  the  government,  having  been  elected  in 
1636,  and  continued  by  successive  elections  to  1656, 
died  this  year  at  his  residence  in  Rehoboth.  He  was 
also  one  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies 
from  1644  to  1655.  James  Brown,  who  was  chosen 
an  assistant  in  1665.  and  lived  at  Swansey,  was  his 
son. 

*  We  find  tlie  same  remark  made  respecting  ^Ir. 
Brown  as  of  Mr.  Winslow  and  Captain  Srandish.  that, 
while  on  their  travels,  they  became  casually  acquaint- 
ed with  the  refugees  at  Leyden,  and  were  so  attached 
to  them,  on  acquaintance,  as  to  unite  themselves  to 
their  society.  A  connexion  thus  formed  and  continu- 
ed through  so  many  difficulties,  is  alike  honorable  to 
all  parties  ;  we  are  led  to  infer,  that  there  was  some- 
thing prepossessing  in  the  deportment  of  the  pilgrims, 
interesting  and  congenial  to  generous  minds.' 

Jan.  '26. — There  was  a  tremendous  earthquake  in 
the  northern  pans  of  America.  It  was  felt  throughout 
New  Endand. — See  Juds:e  Davis's  note  on  ^Morton, 
p.  -259.  -294. 

This  year  the  ministerial  house  was  built  in  Ply- 
mouth; and  £60  voted  to  finish  it.  Half  the  payment 
in  tar  and  corn ;  the  tar  to  be  twelve  pence  in  the 
barrel   cheaper   than    at  Boston ;    the   other   half  in 

*  Some  very  interestinsj  particulars  respecting  the  subsequent 
conduct  of  these  two  Indians,  and  the  origin  of  the  memorable 
contest,  denominated  Philip's  war,  may  be  found  in  Judge  David's 
pote  in  the  Memorial,  p.  2S7. 


16G5]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  131 

svheat,  barley,  pease,  butter,  or  money.  This  parson- 
age bouse  was  erected  on  the  north  side  of  First  street, 
(Leyden  street)  just  below  the  present  precinct  house, 
but  not  on  the  same  lot.  The  houses  belongin'^  to 
Barnabas  Churchill's  heirs,  and  to  Le  Baron's  heirs, 
now  occupy  the  place.  The  lot  on  which  stands  the 
present  precinct  mansion  house,  was  dven  to  the 
First  Church  of  Christ  in  Plymouth,  by  Bridget  Fuller 
and  Samuel  Fuller,  the  worthy  widow  and  son  of  Dr. 
Samuel  Fuller. 

In  1664,  king  Charles  II.  issued  a  commission 
empowering  Col.  Richard  Nicolls.  Sir  Robert  Carr, 
George  Cartwright,  and  Samuel  Maverick,  Esquires, 
*  to  hear  and  determine  complaints  and  appeals  in  all 
cases,  as  well  military"  as  criminal  and  civil.'  within 
New  England,  and  to  proceed  in  all  things  for  settling 
the  peace  and  security  of  the  countr}.  His  majesty 
caused  letters  to  be  addressed  to  the  government  of 
IS'ew  Plymouth,  in  which  are  many  expressions  of 
royal  grace  and  favor,  promising  to  preserve  all  their 
liberties  and  privileges,  both  ecclesiastical  and  civil, 
without  the  least  violation  ;  and  enjoinins  loyalty,  af- 
fection and  obedience  on  the  part  of  his  New  England 
subjects. 

Thomas  Willet  was  chosen  to  confer  with  the  com- 
missioners hi  behalf  of  the  Plymouth  colony,  making 
respectful  jirofessions  of  fidelity  and  allegiance. 

The  following  are  the  propositions  made  by  bis 
majesty's  commissioners  to  the  general  court  of  (New 
Plymouth)  held  at  Plymouth,  for  the  jurisdiction  of 
New  Plymouth,  the  twenty-second  of  February,  Ann. 
iDom.  1665. 

1.  That  all  householders  inhabiting  in  the  colony 
take  the  oath  of  allegiance,  and  the  administration  of 
justice  be  in  his  majesty's  name. 

2.  That  all  men  of  competent  estates  and  civil  con- 
versation, though  of  different  judgments,  may  be  ad- 
mitted to  be  freemen,  and  have  liberty  to  choose  and 
to  be  chosen  officers,  both  civil  and  military. 


132  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [l665 

3.  That  all  men  and  women  of  orthodox  opinions, 
competent  knowledge,  and  civil  lives,  (not  scandalous,) 
may  be  admitted  to  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  sup- 
per, and  their  children  to  baptism,  if  they  desire  it ; 
either  by  admitting  them  into  the  congregations  al- 
ready gathered,  or  permitting  them  to  gather  them- 
selves into  such  congregations,  where  they  may  have 
the  benefit  of  the  sacraments. 

4.  That  all  laws  and  expressions  in  laws,  derogato- 
ry to  his  majesty,  if  any  such  have  been  made  in  these 
late  troublesome  times,  may  be  repealed,  ahered,  or 
taken  off  from  the  file. 

The  Courfs  Answer.  A .  To  the  first  we  consent,  it 
haying  been  the  practice  of  this  court,  in  the  first  place, 
to  insert  in  the  oath  of  fidelity  required  of  every  house- 
holder, to  be  truly  loyal  to  our  sovereign  lord,  the 
king,  his  heirs,  and  successors.  Also,  to  administer 
all  acts  of  justice  in  his  majesty's  name. 

2.  To  the  second  we  also  consent,  it  having  been 
our  constant  practice  to  admit  men  of  competent  estates 
and  civil  conversation,  though  of  difFej-ent  judgments, 
yet  being  otherwise  orthodox,  to  be  freemen,  and  to 
have  liberty  to  choose  and  be  chosen  officers,  both  ci- 
vil and  military. 

3.  To  the  third  we  cannot,  but  acknowledge  it  to 
be  a  high  favor  from  God  and  from  our  sovereign  that 
we  may  enjoy  our  conscience  in  point  of  God's  worship  ; 
the  main  end  of  transplanting  ourselves  into  these  re- 
mote corners  of  the  earth,  and  should  most  heartily 
rejoice,  that  all  our  neighbors,  so  qualified  as  in  tha't 
proposition,  would  adjoin  themselves  to  our  societies 
according  to  the  order  of  the  gospel,  for  enjoyment  of 
the  sacraments  to  themselves  and  theirs  ;  but  if,  through 
different  persuasions  respecting  church  government,  it 
cannot  be  obtained,  we  would  not  deny  a  liberty  to 
any  according  to  the  proposition  that  are  truly  con- 
scientious, aithoup^h  differing  from  us,  especially  where 
his  majesty   commands  it,  they  maintaining  an   able 


1664]  HISTORY   OF    PLYMOUTH.  133 

preaching  ministry  for  the  carrying  on  of  public  sab- 
bath worship,  which,  we  doubt  not,  is  his  majesty's  in- 
tent, and  withdraw  not  from  paying  their  due  proportion 
of  maintenance  to  such  ministers  as  are  orderly  settled 
in  the  places  where  they  live,  until  they  have  one  of 
iheir  own,  and  that  in  such  places  as  are  capable  of 
maintaining  the  worship  of  God  in  two  distinct  congre- 
gations. We  being  greatly  encouraged  by  his  majesty's 
gracious  expressions  in  his  letter  to  us,  and  your  hon- 
Dr's  further  assurance  of  his  Royal  purpose,  to  continue 
Dur  liberties,  that  where  places,  by  reason  of  our  pau- 
ity  and  poverty,  are  incapable  of  two,  it  is  not  in- 
tended that  such  congregations  as  are  already  in  being 
should  be  rooted  out,  but  their  liberties  preserved,  there 

ing  other  places  to  accommodate  men  of  different 
persuasions  in  societies  by  themselves,  which,  by  our 
known  experience,  tends  most  to  the  preservation  of 
peace  and  charity. 

4.  To  the  fourth  we  consent  that  all  laws  and  ex- 
pressions in  laws  derogatory  to  his  majesty,  if  any  such 
shall  be  formed  amongst  us,  which  at  present  we  are 
not  conscious  of,  shall  be  repealed,  altered  and  taken 
DfF  from  the  file. 

By  order  of  the  general  court  for  the  ) 
jurisdiction  of  New  Plymouth.     5 
Per  me, 

Nathaniel  Morton^ 
Secretary, 

The  conditions  expressed  in  the  answer  to  the  third 
proposition  appeared  so  reasonable  to  the  commission- 
srs,  that  when  they  afterward  met  the  general  assem- 
bly of  Connecticut,  in  April,  1665,  their  third  pro- 
position is  qualified  in  substance,  conformably  to  the 
Plymouth  reply. — Judge  Davis's  Ed.  Memoir. 

So  favorable  was  the  report  of  the  Royal  commis- 
sioners respecting  the  affairs  and  proceedings  of  the 
Plymouth  colony,  that  in  1666  his  majesty  addressed 
i  second  letter  to  that  government,  in  which  the  Roval 
12 


134  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1665 

approbation  and  praise  are  expressed  in  exalted  terms.: 
presuming  that  the  fidelity  and  affection  for  their  sove-: 
reign  are  '  rooted  in  their  hearts.'  ^  Although,'  says  the 
letter,  '  your  carriage  of  itself  must  justly  deserve  oui 
praise  and  approbation,  yet  it  seems  to  be  set  off  with 
more  lustre  by  the  contrary  deportment  of  the  colony 
of  Massachusetts,  as  if  by  their  refractoriness  they  had 
designed  to  recommend  and  heighten  the  merit  of  youi 
compliance  with  our  directions  for  the  peaceable  anc 
good  government  of  our  subjects  in  those  parts.  You 
may,  therefore,  assure  yourselves,  that  we  shall  nevei 
be  unmindful  of  this  your  loyal  and  dutiful  behavior, 
but  shall  upon  all  occasions  take  notice  of  it  to  youi 
advantage,  promising  you  our  constant  protection  and 
royal  favor  in  all  things  that  may  concern  your  safety 
peace,  and  welfare.     And  so  we  bid  you  farewell.' 

At  the  general  court  of  magistrates  and  deputiei 
assembled  at  Plymouth  in  October,  1665,  it  was  deemed 
indispensably  necessary  that  Governor  Prince  should 
remove  his  residence  from  Eastham  to  Plymouth  for 
the  more  convenient  administration  of  justice,  anc 
he  having  complied  with  the  requisition,  the  couri 
therefore  ordered  that  his  salary  should  be  £50  pei 
annum.  And  as  he  resided  in  a  place  which  had  beer 
purchased  by  the  colony  '  for  that  end,'  it  was  furthei 
ordered,  in  case  of  his  decease,  his  family  should  be* 
permitted  to  remain  in  the  place  for  a  year ;  or  if  he 
should  not  be  re-elected,  he  should  be  at  liberty  to  re^ 
main  in  the  government  house  a  year. 

With  respect  to  the  assistants,  it  was  enacted  that 
the  old  magistrates  should  be  allowed  X20  per  annum, 
and  that  the  charge  of  their  table  should  be  defrayed, 
and  those  who  were  newly  elected  should  be  allowed 
the  charge  of  their  table  only.  In  July  1667,  £50 
annual  salary  was  allowed  to  all  the  assistants,  and  the 
charge  of  their  table.  It  was  also  enacted,  that  such 
as  were  chosen  to  the  office  and  should  refuse  to  serve, 
should  be  fined  £5  for  the  use  of  the  colony. 


0 


1668]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  135 

S.  the  daughter  of  R.  K.  was  presented  for  slander, 
and  found  guilty  ;  ordered  to  be  punished  severely  by 
whipping. 

1666. — This  year,  says  Morton,  the  author  of  the 
New  England  Memorial,  much  of  the  wheat  is  de- 
stroyed by  blasting  and  mildew,  and  it  appears  that 
this  evil  so  frequently  attended  the  attempts  to  culti- 
vate that  valuable  grain  on  the  sea-coast,  that  the  in- 
habitants became  discouraged  and  relinquished  further 
trials  ;  but  the  experienced  agriculturists  of  the  present 
day  have  ascertained  that  a  particular  kind  of  wheat 
may  be  profitably  cultivated  even  on  the  sea  borders 
of  our  fathers. 

1668. — Octoher,  Price  of  produce  was  regulated  as 
follows,  in  payment  of  minister's  salary.  Wheat  As.  6d. ; 
barley  four  shillings;  rye,  os.  6d.,  corn  three  shillings; 
peas  three  shillings ;  malt  four  shillings ;  butter  sixpence. 
Qualifications  of  townsmen  regulated  this  year  a  sec- 
ond time."^ 

Timothy  Hatherly,  the  founder  of  Scituate,  died 
there  this  year.  Mr.  Hatherly  was  an  eminent  Eng- 
lish merchant,  and  had  been  one  of  the  most  zealous 
of  the  adventurers  in  forwarding  the  colony.  He  came 
over  in  the  Ann  in  1623,  as  already  mentioned,  and 
returned  home;  came  over  again  in  1632,  and  settled 
at  Scituate,  of  which  place  he  may  be  considered  the 
founder.  He  was  elected  an  assistant  in  1636,  and 
was  continued  in  that  office  by  successive  elections  un- 
til 1658.  He  was  the  treasurer  of  the  colony,  and 
sometimes  a  commissioner  of  the  united  colonies. 
Mr.  Hatherly  was  a  gentleman  of  great  intelligence 
and  piety,  and  extremely  useful  in  all  the  transactions 
of  the  colony. 

A.  H.  for  making  a  proposal  of  marriage  to  E.  P. 
and  prosecuting  the  same  contrary  to  her  parents'  liking 

*  For  many  particulars  relative  to  the  affairs  of  this  town,  1  am 
indebted  to  Notes  on  Plymouth,  published  in  the  Historical  Collec- 
tions, vol.  iii.  second  series,  believed  to  be  from  the  accurate  pen 
pf  tl?e  late  Samuel  Da^is,  Escj. 


\ 


136  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [166'  ' 

and  without  their  consent,  and  directly  contrary  to  thei' 
mind  and  will,  was  sentenced  to  pay  a  fine  of  fivi 
pounds  and  find  securities  for  good  behavior,  and  de; 
sist  the  use  of  any  means  to  obtain  or  retain  her  afFeC', 
tions.  The  bond  A.  H.  acknowledgeth  to  owe  thei 
king  £50,  J.  D.  £25,  T.  W.  £25.  The  condition 
that  whereas  the  said  A.  H.  hath  disorderly  and  un-i 
righteously  endeavored  to  obtain  the  affections  of  Miss, 
E.  P.  against  the  mind  and  will  of  her  parents,  ii 
therefore  the  said  A.  H.  shall  for  the  future  refrain 
and  desist  the  use  of  any  means  to  obtain  or  retaia 
her  affections  as  aforesaid,  and  appear  at  court  the 
first  Tuesday  of  July  next,  and  be  of  good  behavior, 
&c.  Released  July  3d,  1667.  A.  H.  did  solemnly 
and  seriously  engage  before  the  court  that  he  will 
wholly  desist,  and  never  apply  himself  for  future  as 
formerly  he  hath  done  to  Miss  E.  P.  in  reference  un- 
to marriage.     July,  1667. 

1668. — Twenty  pounds  were  allowed  by  the  colony 
towards  printing  the  New  England  Memorial,  and  it 
was  recommended  to  the  towns  to  make  a  free  and 
voluntary  contribution  towards  it.  The  treasurer 
was  directed  to  have  it  printed,  and  five  pounds 
more  were  added.  The  next  year  the  court  or- 
dered the  treasurer  to  make  good  a  barrel  of  beef 
to  Mr.  Green,  the  printer,  at  Cambridge,  to  satisfy 
what  is  behind  for  printing  the  New  England  Memorial, 
which  is  something  more  than  is  due,  but  the  court  is 
willing  to  allow  it,  as  he  complains  of  a  hard  bargain. 
On  the  eighth  of  December,  1669,  died  Cap- 
tain Thomas  Southworth,  one  of  the  assistants,  at  the 
age  of  fifty-three.  He  attracted  the  attention  and  re- 
spect of  the  people  very  early,  and  was  selected  to 
succeed  Mr.  Brewster  in  his  office  of  ruling  elder;  but 
governor  Bradford  deeming  him  to  be  well  adapted  to 
civil  office,  the  design  was  abandoned,  and  Mr.  Cush- 
man  was  elected. 

Mr.  Southworth  was  elected  an  assistant  in   ]  652, 
and  continued  in  the  government,  with  but  few  inters 


'^  1670]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  137 

'^  ruptions,  until  his  death.     He  was  one  of  the  commis- 
si isioners  of  the  united  colonies  in  1659,  and  three  years 
(l*  after;  again  in  1664  he  was  appointed  governor  of  the 
'^•colonies'  territory  on  the  Kennebec  river,  in  Maine.    He 
Jf  was  a  man  eminent  for  the  soundness  of  his  mind  and 
the  piety  of  his  heart.     It  has  been  noticed,  page  116, 
•  ihat  governor  Bradford   married   for  his  second   wife 
:  Mrs.  Alice  Southworth,   who  came  over  with  her  two 
sons,  Constant   and  Thomas.     Thomas    married    his 
cousin    Elizabeth    Reyner,   a  daughter    of  the   Rev. 
.  John  Reyner,  the   minister   of  Plymouth.     His   only 
child,  Eliza,  iijarried  Joseph  Howland,  a  son  of  John 
Howland,  one  of  the  pilgrims  of  the  Mayflower. 

Constant  Southworth  was  admitted  a  freeman  in 
1637,  and  in  the  same  year  married  a  daughter  of  Mr. 
Collier.  His  name  is  on  the  list  of  volunteers  to  go 
against  the  Pequots,  in  1637.  He  was  elected  deputy 
for  Duxbury  in  1649,  and  in  several  other  years; 
was  colony  treasurer  from  1659  to  1678,  and  often 
one  of  the  assistants.  In  the  early  part  of  Philip's 
war  he  was  commissary  general,  and  accompanied  the 
army.  The  famous  partizan  officer,  Benjamin  Church, 
married  his  daughter  Alice,  and  two  of  his  sons  fre- 
quently accompanied  Church  in  his  expeditions.  He 
died  in  1687,  leaving  three  sons,  Edward,  Nathaniel, 
and  William  ;  three  married  daughters  and  two  unmar- 
ried. 

1669. — E.  D.  of  Eastham,  for  slandering  and  bely- 
ing his  neighbors,  fined  twenty  shillings,  and  reserved 
for  future  censure  to  a  further  trial  of  his  future  con- 
versation. 

1670. — J.  C.  for  travelling  on  Sunday,  and  W.  H. 
for  conveying  wood  on  Sunday,  fined  ten  shillings  each. 
N.  S.  for  telling  several  lies  to  the  damage  of  the 
colony,  fined  £5,  or  to  be  whipped.  H.  R.  for  abus- 
ing her  husband,  sentenced  tobe  publicly  whipped  at  the 
post :  at  the  earnest  entreaty  of  herself  and  others, 
and  promising  amendment,  it  was  suspended  ;  but  if  at 
12* 


138  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [l67^ 

any  other  time  she  be  taken  in  the  like  fault,  it  is  to 
be  executed. 

1 671. —John  Prince  and  Nathaniel  Bosworth,  of 
Hull,  petition  the  general  court  of  Plymouth  for  liber- 
ty lo  fish  at  Cape  Cod  for  mackerel,  they  having  dis- 
covered a  method  of  fishing  with  nets  by  moonlight. 
This  year  the  code  of  laws  for  the  colony  was  again  re- 
vised, and  the  next  year  printed  with  this  title  :  'The 
book  of  the  general  laws  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  juris- 
diction of  New  Plymouth.  Printed  by  Samuel  Green 
of  Cambridge.'* 

John  Barnes  was  standing  at  his  barn  door  strok-  i 
ing  his  bull,  when  the  animal  turned  suddenly  and 
thrust  his  horn  into  his  thigh,  making  a  wound  eight 
inches  long,  from  which  he  languished  about  thirty- 
two  hours,  and  then  died.  From  him  descended  the 
family  of  Barnes,   in  this  town. 

1672. — John  Rowland,  one  of  the  pilgrims  of  the 
Mayflower,  died  February2-2d,  at  the  age  of  eighty, 
and  was  honorably  interred  at  Plymouth.  Mr.  How- 
land  was  an  assistant  in  the  government  as  early  as 
1633,  and  several  years  after.  He  left  several  daugh- 
ters and  four  sons,  viz.  John,  who  settled  at  Barnsta- 
ble, froni  whom  descended  the  Rev.  John  Howland, 
late  minister  of  Carver ;  Joseph  settled  at  Plymouth  ■ 
Isaac  at  Middleborough  ;  and  Jabez,  after  the  conquest 
of  Mount  Hope,  at  Bristol,  Rhode  Island. 

Liberty  was  granted  George  Bonham  to  erect  a  ful- 
ling mill  on  the  town  brook.  This  is  the  earliest  date 
of  any  works  on  this  stream  other  than  grist-mills,  of 
which  two  had  been  erected  before,  about  1631  and 
1632. 

Townsmen  allowed  to  make  ten  barrels  of  tar  annu- 
ally. 

* 'Governor  Hutchinson,  with  unaccountable  carelessness,  has 

asserted,  (vol.  li.  463)  that  they  never  established  any  distinct  code 
or  body  of  laws  ;  grounding  his  assertion  on  a  passage  inHubbard'sv 
MS:  History,  which  implies  no  such  thins;.'— Belknap. 


673]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  139 

1673. — On  the  8th  of  April  died  governor  Thomas 
^rince,  in  the  seventy-third  year  of  his  age.  Mr.  Prince 
rrived  at  Plymouth  in  1 62 1 .  He  was  then  about  twen- 
y-one  years  old.  In  1624  he  married  Patience,  the 
aughter  of  elder  Brewster.  In  1634  he  was  chosen 
overnor.  The  next  year,  being  a  widower,  he  mar- 
ied  Mary,  the  daughter  of  Mr.  William  Collier. 
\bout  this  time  it  is  presumed  he  removed  to  Duxbu- 
■y,  where  Mr.  Collier  resided.  His  residence  at  Ply- 
mouth is  indicated  by  a  reference  in  the  records  to  his 
ot  on  *  High  Street.'  In  1638,  Mr.  Prince  again 
jerved  in  the  oflice  of  governor.  Before  he  was  again 
3lected  in  1657  he  had  removed  to  Eastham.  The 
law  required  the  governor  to  reside  at  Plymouth,  but 
there  was  dispensation  in  his  favor  until  1665,  when 
he  removed  to  Plymouth,  and  took  possession  of  a  place 
provided  for  him  by  the  government,  which  he  oc- 
cupied until  his  death.  It  was  more  than  a  mile  from 
the  centre  of  the  town  on  the  road  towards  Boston, 
and  was  called  Plain  Dealing.  This  place  w^as  well 
known  as  the  Lothrop  farm,  and  is  now  in  the  occupancy 
of  Isaac  L.  Hedge,  Esq. 

The  governor's  salary  was  at  the  time  established 
at  £50  per  annum,  and  it  was  stipulated  that  he  should 
receive  that  sum  annually,  so  long  as  he  should  be 
governor  of  the  colony.  The  administration  of  gov- 
ernor Prince  was  inauspicious  and  perplexing.  Many 
'  uncomfortable  jars  '  and  unhappy  animosities  prevail- 
ed, in  consequence  of  the  harsh  measures  which  were 
pursued  against  sectaries,  especially  against  the  Qua- 
kers. The  governor  had  also  to  encounter  many  dif- 
ficulties with  the  Indians.  But,  amidst  these  various 
perplexities,  the  government  appears  to  have  pursued 
a  firm  and  steady  course  in  promotion  of  the  substan- 
tial interests  of  their  constituents  y  and  if,  says  Judge 
Davis,  we  except  the  lamented  departure  in  some  in- 
stances, from  a  just  and  prudent  toleration  on  religious 
topics,  a  critical  and  candid   examination  of  governor 


Il 


140  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [167 

Prince's  conduct  during  the  sixteen  successive  year 
of  his  magistracy,  will,  it  is  believed,  find  little  to  rep 
rehend  and  much  to  approve.  He  is  particularly  t 
be  applauded  for  his  solicitous  attention  to  the  estabi 
lishment  of  schools  in  the  colony,  of  a  higher  grad 
than  had  before  existed.  Governor  Prince  was  ofte 
employed  in  other  public  services  of  importance.  H 
was  of  the  council  of  war,  treasurer  of  the  colon; 
at  one  time,  and  often  a  Commissioner  of  the  Unitec 
Colonies.  His  integrity  was  proverbial,  and  his  in 
dustry,  energy,  and  sound  judgment,  rendered  him  ; 
very  useful  instrument  in  conducting  the  affairs  of  th( 
rising  colony,  and  would,  we  think,  says  Judge  Davis 
have  made  him  a  respectable  character  in  a  far  more 
considerable  community. 

Among  the  good  deeds  of  governor  Prince,  we 
should  not  omit  to  mention  his  exertions  for  a  fixed 
and  competent  support  of  an  able  and  learned  minis- 
try. In  many  of  the  scattered  settlements,  a  disposi- 
tion prevailed  to  neglect  this  important  branch  of  pub- 
lic instruction,  or  to  employ  incompetent  lay  exhort- 
ers,  practices  which  he  uniformly  discountenanced. 

Governor  Prince  left  seven  daughters,  all  of  whom 
were  married  before  his  decease.  His  son,  Thomas, 
went  to  England,  where  he  married,  and  died  young. 

The  Plymouth  church  records,  in  expressing  Mr. 
Prince's  character  and  his  amiable  and  pleasant  con- 
versation, depart  from  their  usual  course,  by  an  indi- 
cation of  his  personal  appearance,  from  which  it  may 
be  supposed  that  it  was  peculiarly  dignified  and  strik- 
ing. '  He  was  excellently  qualified  for  the  office  of 
governor.  He  had  a  countenance  full  of  majesty,  and 
therein,  as  well  as  otherwise,  was  a  terror  to  evil-do- 
ers.' The  foregoing  is  an  abstract  from  the  ample 
memoir  by  Judge  Davis,  in  the  Memorial. 

At  the  court  in  June  of  this  year,  Josias  Winslow, 
the  eldest  son  of  the  late  governor  Edward  Winslow, 
was  elected  as  the  successor  of  governor  Prince.  John 
Alden  remained  the  first  assistant. 


131675]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  141 

4     1675.    February. — A  fortification   was  ordered  to 
:|^:be  erected  on  Fort  Hill,  an  hundred  feet  square,  with 
Kpalisadoes  ten  and  a  half  feet  high  ;  a  watch-house  to 
ibe   erecte<i,    and    three    pieces   of  ordnance  planted 
i:within  it ;  on  which  occasion,  all  the  males  of  sixteen 
ayears  and  upwards  assisted  in  its  erection.     *  Of  this 
[ffortj'  says  the  writer  in  Historical  Collections,  vol.  iii. 
ir*  from  the  description  in  the  records,  and  the  minute 
oldimensions  given  of  all  its  parts  and  appendages,  we 
i-made  a  drawing  a  few  years  since. 
a^     This  was  the  memorable  period  of  Philip's  war,  and 
ithe  reader  will  remark,   that  it  was  in  the    depth  of 
Iwinter  when  these  preparations  were  necessary  against 
i!  an  insidious  foe.     Frequently,  doubtless,  the  women 
and    children    took    shelter    within    these    palisadoes, 
whose  location  and  circuit  we    are   able  to  delineate 
with   exactness.     The    fort   was   built   by    Nathaniel 
Southworth.'     When  the  times  no  longer  required  de- 
fence against   the  Indians,  the  fort  w^as   demolished, 
and  the  huge  timber  sold  to  Mr.  William  Harlow,  who 
converted  it  into   a  dwelling-house  ;  but  it  was   con- 
structed in  a  very  uncouth  form,  and  was  glazed   with 
diamond-glass,  set  in  lead.     It  stood  in  a  lot  near  the 
house  belonging  to  the  heirs  of  the  late  John  Patey, 
and  was  not  taken   down   till  about  fifteen  years  ago. 
The    cannon  employed  in  the   fort  were  removed  to 
Cole's  Hill,  for  the  defence  of  the  town  against  the  as- 
saults  of  a  civilized  and   kindred  people   during  the 
revolutionary  war.     After  that  event,  the  cannon  were 
sold   as   refuse  iron,  and   wrought  up   in  a  forge  at 
Bridgewater.     The  antiquarian  will  regret,  that  these 
memorials  of  ancient  warfare,  these  protectors  of  our 
ancestors  when  in   infancy,   were   not  transmitted  to 
later  generations. 

In  the  year  1674,  an  Indian  named  John  Sausaman, 
left  the  service  of  King  Philip,  and  informed  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  Sachem's  hostile  intention  against  the 
English.     Governor  Prince,  advising  with  his  counctlj 


142  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH. 

resolved  to  send  for  Philip  to  inquire  into  the  trutl 
of  the  allegation.  Before  this  could  be  accomplished 
Sausaman  was  murdered,  near  Assawainset  pond,  h 
Middleborough.  His  body  being  found  concealed 
under  the  ice,  Tobias,  one  of  Philip's  counsellors,: 
and  his  son,  with  another  Indian,  were  apprehended, 
on  suspicion  of  being  the  murderers.  They  were 
convicted  at  Plymouth,  at  a  court  holden  in  June, 
1675,  and  executed.  Six  '  grave  Indians,' were  put 
upon  the  jury,  in  the  trial  of  the  culprits.  This  affair 
precipitated  the  hostilities,  which,  it  appeared  Philip 
had  meditated,  but  for  which  he  was  not,  at  that  time, 
fully  prepared. 

This  year  William  Macumber,  for  calling  on  an  In- 
dian for  a  debt  on  Sunday,  and  a  man  for  fighting  on 
Sunday,  were  fined  forty  shillings  each,  or  to  be  pub- 
licly whipped. 

It  was  ordered  by  the  court  this  year  that  during 
the  time  of  public  danger,  every  one  that  comes  to 
meeting  on  the  Lord's  day,  bring  his  arms  with  him, 
with  at  least  five  charges  of  powder  and  shot,  under  a 
penalty  of  two  shillings  for  every  default.  That  whoso- 
ever shall  shoot  off  a  gun  on  any  unnecessary  occasion, 
or  at  any  game,  except  at  an  Indian  or  a  wolf,  shall  for- 
feit five  shillings  for  every  such  shot,  until  further  liber- 
ty shall  be  given. — Philip's  War.  During  the  years 
1675  and  1676  a  sanguinary  war  was  maintained  with 
King  Philip,  who  resided  at  Mount  Hope,  in  the  town 
of  Bristol,  Rhode  Island.  Philip  was  the  youngest 
son  of  Massasoit,  and  sachem  of  the  Wampanoags,  and 
a  bold  and  resolute  warrior.  Having  formed  allian- 
ces with  numerous  tribes  of  savages,  he  assembled  such 
a  formidable  force  that  all  New  England  was  menaced 
with  destruction.  In  every  town  houses  were  garrison- 
ed for  the  security  of  families,  yet  tragical  scenes  kept 
the  inhabitants  in  constant  alarm.  Dwelling  houses, 
although  garrisoned,  consumed,  and  men,  women  and 
children  butchered  by  savage  hands,     An  armed  force 


1676]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  143 

among  the  colonists  became  indispensable,  and  troops 
•.vere  raised  in  the  following  proportions.  Massachu- 
setts colony  527.  Plymouth  158.  Connecticut  315. 
General  Josiah  Winslow  was  appointed  commander-in- 
chief,  and  James  Cudworth  commanded  the  Plymouth 
forces.  On  the  19th  of  December,  ]675,  the  English 
advanced  upon  the  enemy,  and  attacked  them  in  their 
strong  hold.  They  had  constructed  a  strong  fort  with 
logs  and  trees  in  the  centre  of  a  large  swamp,  in  which 
was  a  piece  of  high  ground  of  several  acres.  Here 
were  their  wigwams,  containing  their  families  and  pro- 
visions. In  this  dismal  place  a  battle  of  three  hours 
was  fought  with  unprecedented  ferocity  and  obstinacy. 
Had  the  English  been  defeated,  not  a  man  would  have 
escaped  from  the  swamp  alive ;  but  a  kind  Providence 
so  ordered  it  that  the  English  were  victorious.  It  was 
computed  that  700  fighting  Indians  were  slain  ;  among 
them  were  twenty-five  chiefs,  and  three  hundred  m.ore 
it  is  said  died  of  their  wounds.  About  six  hundred 
wigwams  were  consumed,  in  which  perished  a  consid- 
erable number  of  old  men,  women  and  children.  Of 
the  English,  six  captains  and  eighty  men  were  killed 
or  mortally  wounded,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  others 
were  wounded. 

On  the  12th  of  March,  1676,  the  garrison  house  of 
Mr.  Clark,  at  Eel  river,  in  this  town,  was  attacked  by  a 
party  of  Indians  on  the  Sabbath,  when  most  of  the  men 
were  gone  to  meeting,  and  eleven  persons  were  killed 
and  the  house  consumed.  The  house,  with  two  or 
three  others,  had  been  fortified  for  the  security  of  fami- 
lies in  that  neighborhood.  The  house  stood  on  the  west 
side  of  the  road,  near  the  spot  where  the  dwelling-house 
of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Witmore  has  recently  been  erected. 
Among  the  sufferers  in  this  tragedy,  was  a  boy  who 
received  several  tomahawk  wounds  on  the  skuUj  and 
was  left  for  dead,  but  he  recovered,  and  afterwards- 
wore  a  plate  of  silver  over  the  wound,  from  which  he 
was  distinguished  by  the  name  of  silver-head  Tom 
during  life. 


144  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1676 

1676.  May  llth  the  Indians  made  an  attack  on  a 
settlement  in  that  part  of  Plymouth  which  is  now  HaH- 
fax  :  the  inhabitants  being  suddenly  alarmed,  fled  with 
their  families  ;  but  the  savages  burnt  eleven  houses  and 
five  barns  ;  and  two  days  after  seven  houses  and  two 
barns.  The  wife  of  King  Philip,  and  his  son  about 
nine  years  old  had  been  taken  and  brought  to  Plymouth, 
but  Philip,  although  he  had  lost  the  most  of  his  warri- 
ors and  was  almost  alone,  had  the  address  for  a  long 
time  to  elude  the  vigilance  of  his  pursuers.  At  length, 
finding  himself  harassed  to  the  last  extremity,  in  July 
1676,  he  resorted  to  a  swamp  near  Mount  Hope  for 
concealment.  On  the  12th  of  August  Captain  Church 
approached  with  a  party  of  volunteers,  surrounded  the 
swamp  on  all  sides,  and  so  disposed  of  themselves  as 
to  render  his  escape  impossible.  Finding  himself 
closely  pressed  on  one  side  the  swamp,  he  attempted  to 
escape  from  the  opposite,  where  a  soldier  and  an  Indi- 
an named  Alderman  were  posted  ;  on  his  appearance 
the  soldier  attempted  to  fire,  but  his  gun  snapped  with- 
out effect.  Alderman  then  fired  and  shot  Philip 
through  the  heart.  Thus  fell  this  mighty  warrior,  and 
his  head  was  brought  to  Plymouth  in  triumph.*     Phil- 

*  There  is  in  Historical  Society's  Collections,  vol.  iv.  second  se- 
ries, an  anecdote  respecting:  the  lock  of  the  gun  with  which  King 
Philip  was  killed,  as  follows: 

The  late  Isaac  Lothrop  of  Plymouth,  obtained  the  lock  of  Sylva- 
nus  Cook,  late  of  Kingston.  Sylvanus  was  great  grandson  of  Ca- 
leb Cook,  and  Caleb  was  the  soldier  placed  with  an  Indian  by  Col. 
Church  to  watch,  and  if  possible,  kill  King  Philip.  Cook,  as  the 
historian  relates,  snapped  his  gun,  but  it  missed  fire.  He  then 
bade  the  Indian  fire,  and  he  instantly  shot  him  through  the  heart. 
The  tradition  is,  that  Cook,  having  a  strong  desire  to  possess  the 
gun  with  which  Philip  was  killed,  prevailed  on  the  Indian  to  ex- 
change guns  with  him  ;  and  the  fortunate  gun  has  been  preserved 
in  the  family  of  the  Cooks  to  the  present  time.  When  the  great 
grandson  consented  that  Mr.  Lothrop  should  take  the  lock,  he  re- 
tained the  other  parts  as  memorials  of  the  interesting  event.  The 
gun  lock  was  by  Dr.  Nathaniel  Lothrop,  late  of  this  town,  present- 
ed to  Rev.  John  Lothrop  of  Boston,  and  by  him  to  the  Historical 
Society, 


1676]  HISTORY   OP   PLYMOUTH.  145 

ip  was  unquestionably  a  great  warrior  and  a  mighty 
chief,  in  whom  rested  the  confidence  and  the  hope  of 
the  confederated  tribes.  The  noble  deeds  which  he 
performed  in  1676  in  the  defence  of  his  unfortunate 
people,  would  not  suffer  in  comparison  with  those  of 
the  renowned  heroes,  in  our  own  cause  in  1776,  to 
whom  has  justly  been  awarded  a  large  share  of  honor 
and  fame.  From  the  death  of  Philip  may  be  dated 
the  extinction  of  his  tribe,  and  eventually  the  aborigin- 
al race  in  New  England.  The  termination  of  this  hor- 
rid Indian  war  was  an  event  of  the  utmost  importance 
to  the  colonies,  as  during  its  continuance  of  about  two 
years,  they  suffered  a  loss  of  about  six  hundred  men 
in  the  flower  of  their  strength,  twelve  or  thirteen  towns 
were  destroyed,  and  six  hundred  dwelling  houses  con- 
sumed. 

It  is  a  consoling  fact,  says  Dr.  Holmes'  Annals,  that 
our  ancestors  purchased  of  the  natives  their  land  for  an 
equivalent  consideration,  as  appears  by  a  letter  from  the 
pious  governor  Winslow,  dated  at  Marshfield,  May  1st, 
1676,  as  follows  :  '  I  think  I  can  clearly  say,  that  before 
these  present  troubles  broke  out,  the  English  did  not 
possess  one  foot  of  land  in  this  colony  but  what  was 
fairly  obtained  by  honest  purchase  of  the  Indian  pro- 
prietors. We  first  made  a  law  that  none  should  pur- 
chase or  receive  of  gift  any  land  of  the  Indians,  with- 
out the  knowledge  of  our  court.  And  lest  they  should 
be  straitened,  we  ordered  that  Mount  Hope,  Pocasset, 
and  several  other  necks  of  the  best  land  in  the  colo- 
ny, because  most  suitable  and  convenient  for  them, 
should  never  be  bought  out  of  their  hands.'  During 
the  war  with  Philip,  an  Englishman  deserted  to  the 
Narragansets,  and  carried  with  him  a  quantity  of  pow- 
der and  joined  the  Indians  in  battle  against  the  English. 
He  was  captured,  and  on  trial  confessed  his  guilt,  and 
was  condemned  to  be  hanged  and  quartered,  which 
was  soon  put  into  execution. 

In  a  review  of  the  treatment  of  the  Indian  prisoners 
13 


146  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1676 

by  the  colonists,  the  inquiry  naturally  arises  to  what 
extent  the  infliction  of  capital  punishment  could  be 
considered  as  justifiable  and  proper.  Although  the 
position  is  admissible,  that  a  conquered  foe  should 
be  rendered  incapable  of  committing  further  enormi- 
ties, yet  retaliation  should  be  tempered  with  mercy, 
and  human  lives  should  be  sacrificed  no  further  than 
the  public  safety  demands.  Our  chief  source  of  in- 
telligence relative  to  the  disposition  of  the  Indian 
prisoners  is  from  the  researches  of  Judge  Davis,  as 
published  in  his  Appendix  to  Morton's  Memorial. 
From  this,  it  appears  that  a  majority  of  these  unfor- 
tunate people  were  condemned  to  be  sold  in  per- 
petual slavery  ;  but  a  number  of  guilty  natives  were 
condemned  to  suffer  death.  These  victims,  how- 
ever, were  selected  from  among  the  most  notorious 
murderers  of  defenceless  families  and  individuals. 
Those  fiends  who  assaulted  the  house  of  Mr.  Clark, 
in  Plymouth,  were  justly  excepted  from  mercy  or 
quarter.  Eleven  of  these  culprits  were  captured  in 
July,  1676,  four  of  whom  were  executed  at  Plymouth. 
It  is  related  by  the  accurate  author  above  quoted,  that 
Captain  Church  captured  Anawon,  and  by  some  en- 
couraging intimations,  induced  Tispiquin  to  surrender 
himself.  It  would  seem  that  Captain  Church  consid- 
ered himself  responsible  for  the  lives  of  those  Indians  ; 
but  to  his  grief,  Anawon,  although  advanced  in  years, 
and  who  had  been  a  chief  and  a  counsellor  in  the  time 
of  Massasoit,  was  put  to  death.  Tispiquin  was  believed 
by  the  natives  to  be  invulnerable  to  bullets.  Church, 
therefore,  intimated  that  his  life  should  be  spared,  and 
that  he  would  employ  him  in  his  service.  '  He  came 
in,'  says  Mr.  Hubbard,  '  upon  hopes  of  being  made  a 
captairk  under  Church,  but  upon  trial  (which  was  the 
condition  on  which  his  being  promised  a  captain's  place 
did  depend.)  he  was  found  penetrable  by  the  English 
guns,  for  he  fell  down  upon  the  first  shot,  and  thereby 
received  the  just  reward  of  his  former  wickedness.' 
Respecting  this  extraordinary  transaction,  so  irrecon- 


1676]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  147 

cileable  with  the  laws  of  honor  and  probity,  Judge 
Davis  makes  the  following  just  remarks  : — '  This  pitiful 
evasion,  it  may  be  hoped,  belongs  wholly  to  the  histo- 
rian ;  we  are  unwilHng  to  believe  that  the  authorities 
of  the  country  would  have  resorted  to  such  unworthy 
equivocation.'  But  an  interesting  inquiry  is.  What 
was  the  destined  fate  of  Philip's  son  ?  It  appears  that 
government  were  not  prepared  to  dispose  of  this  inno- 
cent youth  without  the  opinion  and  advice  of  learned 
divines.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Cotton,  of  Plymouth,  and  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Arnold,  of  Marshfield,  rendered  their  united 
opinion  to  the  following  purport : — '  They  humbly  con- 
ceive, on  serious  consideration,  that  the  children  of 
notorious  traitors,  rebels,  and  murderers,  especially  of 
such  as  have  been  principal  leaders  and  actors  in  such 
horrid  villanies,  and  that  against  a  whole  nation,  yea, 
the  whole  Israel  of  God,  may  be  involved  in  the  guilt 
of  their  parents,  and  may,  salva  republica,  be  adjudged 
to  death,  as  to  us  seems  evident  by  the  scripture  in- 
stances of  Saul,  Achmi,  Haman,  the  children  of  whom 
were  cut  off  by  the  sword  of  justice  for  the  transgres- 
sions of  their  parents,  although,  concerning  some  of 
those  children,  it  be  manifest  that  they  were  not  ca- 
pable of  being  co-actors  therein.' 

The  opinion  of  the  Rev.  Increase  Mather,  of  Boston, 
in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Cotton,  October  30th,  1676 :  '  If  it  had 
not  been  out  of  my  mind  when  I  was  writing,  I  should 
have  said  something  about  Philip's  son.  It  is  neces- 
sary that  some  effectual  course  should  be  taken  about 
him.  He  makes  me  think  of  Hadad,  who  was  but  a 
little  child  when  his  father,  (the  chief  sachem  of  the 
Edomites)  was  killed  by  Joab ;  and  had  not  others  fled 
away  with  him,  I  am  apt  to  think  that  David  would 
have  taken  a  course,  that  Hadad  should  never  have 
proved  a  scourge  to  the  next  generation.'  But  the 
Rev.  James  Keith,  of  Bridgewater  interposed  as  a  more 
auspicious  pleader  in  the  cause  of  humanity.  In  a  let- 
ter to  Mr.  Cotton,  lie  says,  *  I  lon^  to  hear  what  be- 


148  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1677 

comes  of  Philip's  wife  and  son.  I  know  there  is  some 
difficulty  in  that  Psalm,  cxxxvii.  8,  9,  though  I  think 
it  may  be  considered,  whether  there  be  not  some  spe- 
cialities, and  somewhat  extraordinary  in  it.  That  lawj 
(Deut.  xxiv.  16,)  compared  with  the  commended  ex- 
ample of  Amaziah,  2  Chron.  xxv.  4,  doth  sway  muck 
with  me,  in  the  case  under  consideration.  I  hope  God 
will  direct  those  whom  it  doth  concern  to  a  good  issue. 
Let  us  join  our  prayers  at  the  throne  of  grace,  with  all 
our  might,  that  the  Lord  would  so  dispose  of  all  public 
motions  and  affairs,  that  his  Jerusalem,  in  this  wilder- 
ness, may  be  the  habitation  of  justice  and  the  moun- 
tain of  holiness,  that  so  it  may  be,  also,  a  quiet  habita- 
tion, a  tabernacle  that  shall  not  be  taken  down.'  Mr. 
Keith  was  happy  in  his  reference  to  2  Chron.  '  But 
he  slew  not  their  children,  but  did  as  it  is  written  in 
the  law  in  the  book  of  Moses,'  he.  It  is  consoling  to 
our  feelings  to  know,  that  in  the  issue  of  this  singular 
discussion,  the  life  of  the  innocent  boy  was  spared, 
although  that  life  was  for  a  price  doomed  to  slavery. 
— Judge  Davis\<i  edit.  Mamoriah 

We  readily  coincide  with  Judge  Davis  in  the  follow- 
ing sentiment,  but  must  except  the  instance  of  the  un- 
fortunate French  Dauphin,  in  1793: — 'The  question 
thus  seriously  agitated  would  not,  in  modern  times, 
occur  in  any  nation  in  Christendom.  Principles  of 
public  law,  sentiments  of  humanity,  the  mild  influence 
of  the  Gospel,  in  preference  to  a  recurrence  to  the 
Jewish  dispensation,  so  much  regarded  by  our  ances- 
tors in  their  deliberations  and  decisions,  would  forbid 
the  thought  of  inflicting  punishment  on  children  for  the 
ofl:ences  of  a  parent.' — Memoir,  Appendix,  p.  455. 

1677. — The  general  court,  aware  that  it  is  upon  the 
pastoral  office  that  particular  churches  must  depend  for 
religious  instruction  and  edification,  ordered  that  pro- 
per provision  should  be  made  for  the  support  of  public 
worship  ;  and  in  1678  it  was  enacted,  that  in  each  town 
and  village  within  the  jurisdiction,  there  should  be  a 


1678]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  149 

house  of  worship  erected.  The  provision  made  in  the 
foregoing  law  is  believed  to  have  been  the  first  where 
coercive  collection  of  taxes,  for  the  maintenance  of 
ministers,  was  authorized.  Orders  had  been  passed 
which  recommended  to  the  people  to  provide  a  liberal 
support  for  their  pastors,  but  no  authority  had  been 
given  to  enforce  its  coercive  payment.  In  the  same 
year  provision  was  made  also  for  the  support  of  public 
schools. 

In  November  of  this  year,  two  more  courts  were 
authorized  to  be  holden  by  the  selectmen  of  towns,  in 
December  and  May.  The  laws  respecting  the  sales  of 
strong  liquors  and  wines  were  renewed,  and  the  penal- 
ties increased,  and  the  sale  was  forbidden  to  all  except 
strangers,  and  not  allowed  to  them  without  a  license. 

1678. — The  court,  conceiving  that  the  public  safety 
required  that  all  persons  in  the  government  should 
abide  and  continue  in  each  town  respectively,  ordered 
that  no  one  should  depart  on  the  penalty  of  forfeiting  his 
whole  personal  estate,  except  by  allowance  of  the  gov- 
ernor, 01*  two  magistrates  ;  and  it  shall  be  lawful  to  seize 
their  persons  and  estates,  boats,  and  carts,  that  shall  be 
found  employed  in  carrying  them  away. 

I  cite  from  the  Old  Colony  Record  Book  of  Court 
Orders,  the  following  proceeding  : — '  This  may  certify, 
that  certain  Indians  near  Sandwich,  whose  names  are 
Canootus  and  Symon  and  Joell,  being  apprehended  on 
their  confession,  convicted  of  feloniously  breaking  open 
a  house  and  stealing  from  a  chest  of  Zechariah  Allen, 
of  Sandwich,  twenty-five  pounds  in  money,  they  having 
lost  or  embezzled  said  money,  and  no  other  way  ap- 
pearing how  he  should  be  satisfied  for  his  loss,  the  co- 
lony have  sentenced  the  above  named  Indians  to  be 
iperpetual  slaves,  and  empower  said  Allen  to  make  sale  of 
jthera  in  New  England,  or  elsewhere,  as  his  lawful  slaves 
for  the  term  of  their  lives.' 

Edward  Gray  hired  Clark's  Island  for  seven  years,  at 
£3  9s,  per  annum,  to  keep  16  neat  cattle  free  of  rate, 
13^ 


150  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1680 

townsmen  to  have  liberty  to  bring  wood  for  building, 
fencing  and  firing.  Agawani  lands  were  leased  for 
seven  years. 

Josiah  Winslow,  governor  of  Plymouth  Colony  died 
December  ISth,  1680,  in  the  fifty-second  year  of  his  age. 
He  was  the  son  of  governor  Edward  Winslow,  born  at 
Marshfield,  1629,  and  the  first  governor  bora  in  New 
England.  He  enjoyed  the  benefit  of  his  father's  care 
and  attention  in  his  early  education,  and  his  whole  life 
evidenced  that  he  copied  that  eminent  man's  bright  ex- 
ample of  steady  virtue,  public  spirit,  and  disinterested 
energetic  action.^ 

His  discretion  as  a  civil  magist/ate,  and  his  bravery 
as  a  military  commander,  procured  him  great  respect, 
and  the  fullest  confidence  of  the  people.     One  of  the 
first  steps  in  his   administration,   was  to  correct  a  rash 
proceeding  that  had  made  unfavorable   impressions  on 
the  minds  of  many  of  the  best  men  in  the  colony.     Mr. 
Cudworth  was  not  only  left  out  of  the  magistracy,  as  has 
been  before  observed,  on  account  of  his  opposition  to 
the  proceedings  against   the   quakers,  but   hisdetter  to 
Mr.  Brown,  published  in  England,  had  given  such  of- 
fence, that  he  was  disfranchised,   and  deprived  of  his 
military  command  in  Scituate.     A  like  severity,  and  on 
similar  grounds,  had  been  exercised  in  regard  to  Isaac 
Robinson,  son  of  Rev.  John  Robinson.     His  name  was 
stricken  off  the  list  of  freemen.     Soon  afier  Mr.  Wins- 
low's  election,  both  these  gentlemen  were  restored  to 
their  former  places,  and  the  country  had  the  benefit  of 
Mr.  Cudworth's  valuable   services,  in  many  important 
trusts  in  the  military  and  in  the  civil  department.     Gov- 
ernor Winslow  was  eminendy  serviceable  in  Philip's  war, 
and  his  name  is  mentioned  with  honor  in  various  histories 
of  that  period.  In  a  letter  to  governor  Leveret,  he  thus  ; 
expresses  himself:-'  Some  resolute  attempt  for  Philip's 
surprisal  must  be  put  in  execution.     Would  to  God  I 
was  with  our  men,  so  as  1  might  not,  in  the  mean  time, , 
be  missed  at  home.     I  should  hope,  by  the  blessing  of  i 
God,  to  give  a  good  account  of  him  in  a  short  timt.' 


1680]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  151 


July  26th,  1675 — '  My  person,  I  hear,  has  been  much 
threatened.  I  have  about  twenty  men  at  my  liouse  ; 
have  sent  away  my  wife  and  children  to  Salem,  that  I 
may  be  less  encumbered  ;  have  flankered  my  house, 
and  resolve  to  maintain  it  so  long  as  a  man  will  stand 
by  me.'  His  health,  habitually  feeble,  was  much  im- 
paired by  the  fatigues  of  the  Narraganset  expedition. 
In  February,  1676,  the  commissioners  of  the  United 
Colonies  observed,  that  '  through  indisposition  of  body, 
he  is  disenabled  from  going  forth  again.'  And,  there- 
Ifore,  made  provision,  that  the  commander-in-chief  of 
the  forces  of  the  colony,  where  the  seat  of  war  should 
happen  to  be,  should  be  ^  chief  over  the  whole.'  One 
hundred  pounds  was  allowed  by  the  commissioners  for 
his  services,  and  a  grant,  on  the  same  ground,  was  made 
to  him  by  Plymouth  colony.  His  stated  salary,  as 
governor,  was  fifty  pounds  per  annum.  The  expenses 
of  his  funeral,  forty  pounds,  were  directed  to  be  paid  from 
the  public  treasury,  '  as  a  testimony  of  the  colony's  en- 
deared love  and  affection  to  him.'^  Plymouth  Record. 
His  wife  was  Penelope,  a  daughter  of  Herbert  Pelham, 
Esq.  a  gentleman  of  distinction,  who  took  an  early  inter- 
est in  the  settlement  of  New  England,  and  who  came  to 
Boston  in  1637,  but  did  not  remain  long  in  the  country. 
Governor  Winslow  was  introduced  into  public  life  very 
early,  and  in  1643,  as  soon  as  he  was  eligible,  was 
chosen  a  deputy  to  the  court  from  Marshfield,  and  se- 
veral times  afterwards. 

In  1657,  soon  after  the  death  of  bis  father,  he  was 
chosen  an  assistant,  and  in  1659,  the  major,  or  chief 
military  commander  of  the  colony. 

He  was,  for  many  years,  a  commissioner  of  the  con- 
federated colonies,  and  in  1673,  after  the  death  of 
governor  Prince,  he  was  chosen  his  successor.     In  his 

*  Two  elegies  were  written  on  the  death  of  governor  Josiah 
Winslow  ;  one  by  Rev.  Mr.  Witherell,  of  Scituate,  the  other  by- 
Rev.  Mr.  Wiswall,  of  Duxbury.  The  former  is  published  in  Rev. 
Mr.  Dean's  history  of  Scituate. 


152  HISTORY   OF    PLYMOUTH.  [l68( 

native  colony,  governor  Winslow  stood  on  the  highestl 
ground  in  society.  '  Civic  honors  awaited  him  in  his 
earliest  youth  ;  he  reached  every  elevation  which  could 
be  attained  ;  and  there  was  nothing  left  for  ambition  to 
covet,  because  all  had  been  gained.  He  lived  on  his 
ample  paternal  domain,  and  his  hospitality  was  not 
only  generous,  but  magnificent.  In  addition  to  his 
military  and  civic  distinctions,  he  had  acquired  that  of 
being  the  most  accomplished  gentleman,  and  the  most 
delightful  companion,  in  the  colony,  and  the  attractions 
of  the  festive  and  social  board  at  Careswell  were  not 
a  little  heightened  by  the  charms  of  his  beautiful  wife.' 
'Mild  and  tolerant  himself,'  continues  Mr.  Baylies, 
'  he  witnessed  with  regret  the  movements  of  that  fierce 
spirit  which  would  not  tolerate  the  liberality,  and  was 
blind  to  the  wisdom  of  Cudworth  and  Brown  ;  and  he 
had  the  address  to  restore  them  to  the  confidence  of 
the  people,  at  a  period  when  the  curse  of  the  age, 
the  spirit  of  religious  bigotry,  was  maddened  by  oppo- 
sition and  armed  with  power.  Persevering,  frank, 
bold,  and  resolute,  he  encountered  the  hazard  of  popu- 
lar displeasure  with  the  same  fearlessness  as  he  did  the 
ambushes  and  bullets  of  the  savages.' 

His  only  son,  the  Hon.  Isaac  Winslow,  was  emi- 
nently distinguished,  having  sustained  the  chief  places 
of  power  and  honor  in  the  colony,  as  chief  commander 
of  the  military  under  the  governor,  and  for  several 
years  Chief  Justice  of  the  Inferior  Court  of  Common 
Pleas,  Judge  of  Probate  of  Wills,  and  one  of  his 
Majesty's  Council  for  the  Province  of  Massachusetts 
Bay  for  more  than  twenty  years,  and  for  several  years 
President  of  that  body.  This  gentleman  possessed 
a  true  English  spirit,  much  given  to  hospitality,  and 
was  universally  beloved.  He  died  at  his  seat  at 
Marshfield,  December  1738,*  in  the  68th  year  of  his 

*  He  was  buried  on  the  18th  of  December.  The  bearers  were 
Col.  Thaxter,  Col.  Lathrop,  N.  Thomas,  N.  Sever,  Kenelm  Wins- 
low,  Esq.  and  J . 


1G80]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  153 

asje.  He  lived  to  see  both  of  his  surviving  sons,  John  and 
Edward,  take  their  turns  as  clerks  of  the  same  courts. 
His  eldest  son,  a  young  gentleman  of  great  promise, 
by  the  name  of  Josiah,  engaged  in  military  service,  re- 
ceived a  captain's  commission,  and  was  killc-d  in  battle, 
with  thirteen  of  his  company,  after  a  most  gallant  re- 
isiance  against  a  superior  force  of  French  and  Indians 
in  1724.  General  John  Winslow,  the  eldest  of  the  sur- 
viving sons  of  Isaac,  was  a  distinguished  and  success- 
ful commander.  In  1740,  he  commanded  a  company 
in  the  expedition  against  Cuba,  and  afterwards  rose  to 
the  rank  of  Major-general  in  the  British  service.*  In 
1755,  an  expedition  against  Nova  Scotia  w^as  under- 
taken by  the  British  government,  of  which  General 
Monckton  was  commander-in-chief,  and  General  (then 
Colonel)  John  Winslow,  second  in  command.  So 
great  was  the  popularity  of  Colonel  Winslow,  that  in  an 
incredible  short  time,  he  raised  for  this  expedition  two 
thousand  men.  The  two  French  forts  were  captured, 
with  scarcely  any  loss  on  the  part  of  the  conquerors,  and 

*  We  have  now  in  the  library  of  the  Pilgrim  Society  three  cora- 
mipsions  to  John  Winslow,  Esq. 

1.  Commission  by  Gov.  Shirly,  authorising  him  to  hold  courts- 
martial  while  on  the  expedition  to  Crown  Point,  1755. 

2.  Commission  by  Gov.  Hardy,  of  New  York,  to  be  General  and 
commander-in-chief  of  the  Provincial  troops,  July,  1756. 

3.  By  Gov.  Pownal,  to  be  Major-general  in  the  king's  service, 
1757. 

General  Winslow  was  remarkable  for  his  skill  in  horsemanship. 
He  imported  a  valuable  horse  from  England,  and  it  was  among  his 
,  greatest  delights  to  be  mounted  on  his  favorite  animal.     On  a  cer- 
i  tain  occasion,  a  number  of  gentlemen  of  this  town  formed  a  party 
,  with  Gen.  Winslow,  for  a  pleasurable  excursion  to  Saquish,  in  Ply- 
mouth harbor,  and  to  return  to  dine  in  town.     Wliile  there,  Wins- 
low fell  asleep  ;  the  other  gentlemen   silently  withdrew,  and  pur- 
!  sued  their  journey.     When  he  awoke  and  found  himself  deserted, 
i  he   mounted,   and  daringly    plunging  his  steed  into  the  channel, 
I  swam  him  across,  and  landed  on  Plymouth  beach,  a  distance  esti- 
I  mated  at  something  more  than  half  a  mile,  from   whence  he  rode 
i  into  town,  making  the  whole  distance  but  six  miles,  while  his  com- 
r  panions  were  riding  fourteen  miles.     On  their  arrival,  th<ey  were 
astounded  to  find  the  General  seated  at  the  tavern,  prepared  to  greet 
them  with  a  bowl  of  punch. 


154  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1680 

the  whole  Province  completely  reduced,  chiefly  through] 
the  enterprize  and  good  conduct  of  Colonel  Winslow  : 
to  him  too  was  entrusted  the  difficult  and  delicate  task, 
of  removing  the  French  neutrals.  In  1756,  he  com- 
manded at  Fort  William  Henry,  on  Lake  George. 
He  was  also  a  counsellor  of  the  Province.  He  died  at 
Marshfield  in  1774,  at  the  age  of  73. 

General  John  Winslow  resided  for  several  years  in 
Plymouth :  he  owned  the  house  which  now  belongs  to 
the  heirs  of  Hon.  James  Warren,  making  the  south- 
west corner  of  North  street. 

The  fact  is  well  understood  that  many  of  this  ancient 
family  had  been  educated  from  infancy  under  the  be- 
guiling influence  and  favor  of  the  Royal  government. 
At  the  commencement,  and  during  the  whole  progress 
of  the  revolutionary  struggle,  therefore,  it  was  found 
difficult  to  espouse  a  cause  so  totally  incompatible  with 
their  sense  of  duty  to  their  sovereign,  and  the  family 
were  subjected  to  much  obloquy  and  unhappiness  by. 
their  faithful  adherence  to  the  royal  cause.  Generall 
John  Winslow  left  two  sons,  Pelham^  and  Isaac.  Pel- 
ham,  from  principle  was  in  the  Royal  interest,  andl 
being  obnoxious  to  popular  resentment,  found  it  expe- 
dient to  resort  to  the  British  for  protection,  and  he^ 
died  on  Long  Island  in  the  year  1776.  Isaac  was; 
loyal  also,  but  in  the  medical  profession,  and  residedj 
on  the  paternal  estate  at  Marshfield,  where  he  died  in] 
1819,  aged  81  years. 

*  Pelham  married  the  daughter  of  Capt.  Cornelius  White,  of  thisi 
town,  whom  he  left  wiih  two  daughters ;  the  elder  married  the« 
late  Henry  Warren,  Esq.  and  the  younger  married  Nathan  Hay- 
ward,  Esq.  Isaac  Winslow,  the  physician,  married  the  daughteri 
of  the  elder  Dr.  Stockbridge,  of  Scituate.  His  children  were  John,i 
an  eminent  lawyer,  who  died  at  Natches,  1820,  where  he  had  re- 
moved on  account  of  his  health.  The  daughters  are  three,  the  wifei 
of  Kilborn  Whitman,  Esq.,  the  widow  of  Thomas  Dingley,  Esq.,. 
and  the  wife  of  EbenezerClapp,  Esq.  John  left  two  sons,  Pelhamr 
and  Isaac,  who  are  living  in  Boston ;  the  only  males,  surviving  in 
this  country  of  the  name  of  Winslow,  descendants  from  the  first 
governor  Winslow.    John  left  also  three  daughters. 


[680]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  155 

Edward,  the  younger  brother  of  General  John  Wins- 
ow,  was  an  accomphshed  scholar  and  a  gendeman  of 
ine  taste.  He  resided  in  Plymouth,  was  clerk  of  the 
:ourt,  and  collector  of  the  port.  He  was  one  of  the 
Tiost  active  members  of  the  Old  Colony  Club,  and  his 
iddress  on  the  22d  December,  1770,  was  the  first  ever 
delivered  on  that  occasion.  A  few  years  prior  to  the 
revolutionary  war,  this  gentleman  erected  a  dwelling 
Qouse  in  North  street  in  this  town,  in  a  style  of  ele- 
gance far  superior  to  any  one  previously  erected  in  the 
Old  Colony,  and  even  at  this  present  day  is  admired  as 
1  fine  model  of  architecture.  Mr.  Winslow,  being  a  roy- 
alist, removed  at  the  commencement  of  the  troubles  to 
New  Brunswick,  where  his  posterity  have  acquired, 
and  are  still  in  the  enjoyment  of  high  official  distinc- 
tions. In  consequence  of  his  removal,  he  forfeited  his 
estate  in  his  native  country,  but  every  branch  of  his 
family,  male  and  female,  was  by  the  British  govern- 
ment amply  provided  for  during  the  remainder  of 
their  lives.  A  writer  in  the  Boston  Gazette,  November 
1826,*  having  just  visited  the  seat  of  the  Winslow 
family,  speaking  of  the  family  portraits,  '  all  of  which 
we  hope  may  at  no  distant  day  be  copied  to  adorn  the 
Pilgrims  Hall,  in  Plymouth  ;  that  of  Josiah  Winslow  is 
evidently  by  the  hand  of  a  master,  and  his  beautiful 
bride  makes  one  of  the  group.  She  appears  about 
twenty,  and  her  costume  is  more  modern  than  is  given 
to  other  females  of  that  period.  Her  head-dress  is  of 
great  simplicity,  the  hair  parted  on  the  top,  and  falling 
in  ringlets  on  each  side  of  her  temples  and  neck ;  the 
countenance  bespeaks  intelligence  and  gentleness.' 

There  are  yet  in  existence  some  ancient  relics  be- 
longing to  the  Winslow  family.  A  sitting  chair  which 
was  screwed  to  the  floor  of  the  Mayflower's  cabin,  for 
the  convenience  of  a  lady  :  it  is  known  to  have  been  in 
the  possession  of  Penelope   Winslow,  who  married 

*  AWen  Bradford,  Esq. 


156  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1689  ^ 

James  Warren,  grandfather  of  our  late  General  James:  Tl 
Warren.  This  chair  is  now  in  the  possession  of  Mis£ 
Hannah  White,  a  direct  descendant  from  Peregrine 
White.  A  watch-purse,  composed  of  small  beads, 
which  was  made  by  Penelope  Pelham,  while  on  her 
voyage  to  America.  She  married  governor  Winslow. 
A  curious  ring,  which  contains  the  hair  of  governor 
Josiah  Winslow ;  and  a  pearl  spoon.  These  last  arti- 
cles are  in  possession  of  Mrs.  Hayward,  who  was  a 
Winslow. 

The  coats  of  arms  of  the  Winslows,  Paddys,  WJiites 
and  Rowlands,  were  procured  by  General  WinsTow* 
from  the  herald's  office  when  in  London,  and  are  now 
in  the  family. 

16S1. — Thomas  Hinckly,  of  Barnstable,  succeeded 
Josiah  Winslow  in  the  office  of  governor  ;  and  was 
re-elected  to  that  office  for  several  years.  Military 
companies  were  required  to  fill  vacancies  with  able  of- 
ficers, and  the  soldiers  were  to  be  provided  with  swords 
and  cutlasses.  The  selectmen  were  required  to  be 
under  oath,  and  the  secretary  was  to  furnish  them  a 
book  containing  all  the  orders  of  court.  It  was  also 
ordered,  that  in  every  town  of  the  jurisdiction,  three 
men  should  be  chosen  and  joined  with  the  commis- 
sioned officers  to  be  the  town  council.  Elder  Faunce 
was  one  of  three  members  of  this  board,  whose  duty 
seems  to  have  been,  to  adjust  and  make  taxes  accru- 
ing in  military  affairs. 

1682. — Agawam  land  was  sold,  to  build  a  meeting- 
house ;  a  free  passage  for  the  alewives  up  the  brook 
from  Buzzard's  Bay  reserved  to  the  town,  and  the  ju- 
risdiction of  the  territory.  This  meeting-house  was 
the  second  built  on  the  same  lot  in  the  towa  square. 
The  town's  part  of  the  money,  wliich  Mount  Hope 
land  sold  for,  went  in  part  for  this  appropriation. 

A  person  was  appointed  by  the  tc^wn  to  grant  tick- 
ets, according  to  law  in  such  cases  provided,  to  such 
persons  as  are  necessitated  to  travel  on  the  Lord's  day. 


685]  HISTORY   OF    PLYMOUTH.  157 

The  people  were  required  to  refrain  from  labor  and 
recreation  on  fast  and  thanksgiving  days,  and  from 
travelling  on  the  sabbath  and  on  lecture  days.  Inn- 
keepers were  required  to  clear  their  houses  of  all  per* 
sons  able  to  go  to  meeting,  except  strangers. 

Severe  laws  were  passed  in  1677  and  in  1682,  re- 
gulating the  lives  and  conduct  of  the  Indians,  requiring 
them  to  live  orderly,  soberly  and  diligently.  In  each 
town  where  Indians  live,  one  able,  discreet  man  was  to 
be  appointed  by  the  court  of  assistants  to  take  oversight 
and  government  of  the  Indians  in  said  town,  and  to 
take  notice  of  all  breaches  of  the  laws.  In  each  town 
where  Indians  reside,  every  tenth  Indian  shall  be  cho- 
sen by  the  court  of  assistants  annually,  as  an  overseer, 
who  shall  take  particular  inspection  and  oversight  of 
his  nine  men,  and  present  their  faults  to  the  proper 
authority. 

It  was  also  ordered,  that  the  overseers  and  tithing- 
men  should  appoint  Indian  constables  annually,  who 
shall  attend  their  courts,  and  the  constables  shall  obey- 
all  the  warrants  of  the  overseers  on  such  penally  as 
the  court  of  assistants  shall  inflict.  The  Indians  were 
subject  to  all  capital  and  criminal  laws  made  for  the 
English  in  the  colony.  For  drunkenness,  for  the  first 
fault  to  pay  a  fine  of  five  shillings,  or  be  whipped  ;  for 
the  second,  ten  shillings,  or  be  whipped. 

Charles  Stockbridge  was  employed  by  the  town  to 
build  a  grist-mill  this  year,  now  called  the  upper  mill, 
being  then  the  second  on  the  same  stream. 

1683. — The  court  ordered  that  the  selectmen  in 
each  town  take  care  that  the  poor  in  their  res]>eotive 
townships  be  provided  for  at  the  charge  of  the  town. 

A  bridge  over  Eel  river,  and  one  over  Jones 
river  ordered  to  be  built. 

1684. — The  king's  highways  were  laid  out  through 
the  township. 

1685. — This  is  the  date  of  the  colony  of  Plymouth 
being   divided  into  three  counties,  Plymouth,  J3arn- 
14 


158  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1685 

Stable,  and  Bristol,  and  in  the  same  year  '  their  bod}i 
of  laws  was  revised  and  published.  It  is  a  small  bu 
venerable  volume,  and  contains  many  marks  of  the 
wisdom  and  piety  of  the  framers.'  There  were  a 
that  time  in  the  colony,  1439  praying  Indians,  besides 
boys  and  girls  under  twelve  years  of  age,  who  were 
supposed  to  be  more  than  three  times  that  number. 

The  puritans  did  not  take  the  name  of  Christians  for 
the  purpose  of  conquest  or  gain ;  it  was  among  their 
first  concerns  to  conciliate  the  Indians,  and  thus  prepare 
the  way  for  their  conversion  to  the  christian  faith,  and 
great  efforts  were  made  for  their  religious  instruction. 
Judge  Davis,  in  his  Appendix  to  the  Memorial, 
observes,  that  the  employment  of  the  more  intelligent 
and  energetic  Indians  as  rulers  was  particularly  grateful 
to  them.  He  had  often  heard  of  amusing  anecdotes 
of  the  Indian  rulers.  The  following  warrant  is  recol- 
lected, which  was  issued  by  one  of  those  magistrates, 
directed  to  an  Indian  constable,  and  will  not  suffer  in 
comparison  with  our   more  verbose   forms. 

*  I,  Hihoudi,  you  Peter  Waterman,  Jeremy  Wicket, 
quick  you  take  him,  fast  you  hold  him,  straight  you 
bring  him  before  me,  Hihoudi.' 

On  the  28th  of  June,  died  Mr.  Nathaniel  Morton, 
secretary  of  the  colony  court,  and  author  of  New 
England's  ^lemorial. 

Nathaniel  Morton  was  the  son  of  Mr.  George  Mor- 
ton, who  came  to  Plymouth,  with  his  family,  in  July^ 
1623.  He  had  been  an  inhabitant  of  the  same  village 
with  governor  Bradford,  in  the  north  of  England,  and 
married  the  governor's  sister.  He  died  in  June,  1624, 
leaving  a  widow  and  four  children,  Nathaniel,  John, 
Patience,  and  Ephraim.  John,  the  second  son,  was  an 
early  settler  in  Middleborough.  From  him,  it  is  believ- 
ed, is  descended  Hon.  Marcus  Morton,  now  one  of 
the  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court  of  Massa- 
chusetts. Ephraim  became  a  man  of  considerable  dis- 
tinction in  the  colony.  He  w^as,  for  many  successive 
years,  a  member  of  the  council  of  war,  and,  with  John 


L6S5]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  159 

Bradford,  represented  the  town  of  Plymouth  in  the  first 
general  court  holden  at  Boston  after  the  union  of  the 
two  colonies.  From  this  branch  is  descended  Perez 
Morton,  Esq.  Attorney  General  of  Massachusetts.  Pa- 
tience Morton  married  John  Faunce,  and  was  the 
mother  of  Elder  Thomas  Faunce.  Nathaniel,  the  eld- 
est child,  was  .twelve  years  old  when  his  father  died. 
He  was  admitted  a  freeman  in  1635,  and  in  the  same 
year  was  married  to  Lydia  Cooper.  In  1673  his  wife 
died.  His  second  wife,  who  survived  him,  was  Ann 
Templer,  of  Charlestown,  a  widow  at  the  time  of  her 
marriage  with  Mr.  Morton.  He  had  eight  children, 
(all  by  his  first  wife)  two  sons  who  died  in  childhood, 
and  six  daughters.  All  the  daughters  w^ere  married  in 
his  life  time.  Two  of  them,  Mary  and  Elizabeth,  died 
before  their  father.  The  death  of  Elizabeth,  the  wife 
of  Nathaniel  Bosworth,  of  Hull,  and  her  honorable  bu- 
rial at  Plymouth,  are  mentioned  in  the  colony  records. 
The  reader  is  referred  to  the  preface  to  the  edition  of 
the  Memorial  by  Judge  Davis  for  an  interesting  account 
of  secretary  Morton. 

I  have  seen  in  the  hands/of  Nathaniel  M.  Davis, 
Esq.  an  original  deed  executed  by  the  four  daughters, 
Remembrance,  Lydia,  Hannaii  and  Joanna,  and  their 
husbands,  Abraham  Jacksonyv^George  Elliston,  Isaac 
Cole,  and  Joseph  Prince.  The  deed  is  dated  April 
6th,  1692.  The  granters  desel^be  themselves  as  the 
sons-in-law  and  daughters  of  the  late  Mr.  Nathaniel 
Morton,  and  convey  '  that  tract  of  land  our  father  lived 
on,  as  also  the  dwelling-house  that  our  father  lived  in.' 
The  description  which  follows  includes  the  estate  now 
owned  and  occupied  by  Deacon  Thoitias  Atwood,  near 
Hobbs-hole  brook  (WilKngsly).  The  aforesaid  Abra- 
ham Jackson  was  the  ancestor  of  the  numerous  and 
respectable  family  of  that  name  in  Plymouth. 

The  four  daughters  of  secretary  Morton,  above  men- 
tioned, made  their  marks  for  their  names  :  a  striking  in- 
stance  of  the   neglect  of  female  education  in  those 


160  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1685? 

days.  It  was  at  his  residence  by  the  side  of  Willings 
ly  brook  that  secretary  Morton  wrote  ihe  New  Eng- 
land Memorial,  and  the  church  records,  and  performed 
many  useful  labors  for  posterity.  Here  in  the  good- 
ness of  his  heart,  the  venerable  man  contemplated  the 
providence  of  God  towards  his  exiled  brethren,  and 
offered  his  fervent  devotions  in  behalf  of  the  Leyden 
church. 

It  was  evidently  the  earnest  desire  of  Mr.  Morton  to 
leave  a  correct  history  of  the  New  England  colonies^ 
for  the  benefit  of  future  generations,  and  his  station  in 
life  afforded  him  peculiar  facilities  for  the  undertaking. 
He  was  scrupulously  faithful  in  recording  all  interest- 
ing events  and  occurrences  of  his  own  times,  that  New 
England  might  remember  the  '  day  of  her  small  things,*" 
and  that  he  might  contribute  his  share  of  original  mate- 
rials for  a  true  and  full  history.  The  work  is  written 
in  a  modest  simplicity  of  style,  and  contains  the  annals 
of  New  England,  but  with  a  special  reference  to  Ply- 
mouth colony,  for  the  space  of  forty  years.  From  his 
sense  of  religious  duty  he  was  induced  to  take  a  par- 
ticular notice  and  make  honorable  mention,  of  those 
eminent  christians  who  finished  their  course  in  his 
day. 

The  first  edition  of  the  Memorial  was  published  in 
1669.  It  was  printed  in  Cambridge,  by  Samuel  Green 
and  Marmaduke  Johnson,  who  received  for  that  ser- 
vice a  grant  of  twenty  pounds  from  the  colony,  and  af- 
terwards a  small  additional  gratuity.  This  work  was 
recommended  to  public  notice  by  too  cotemporary 
worthies,  who  in  after  time  have  been  celebrated  as 
among  the  greatest  divines  of  New  England,  Rev. 
John  Higginson,  of  Salem,  and  Rev.  Thomas  Thach- 
er,  of  Boston.  The  Memorial  has  been  a  source  of 
resort  for  all  succeeding  writers  on  the  same  subject. 
Mr.  Prince  speaks  of  Morton's  Memorial  as  the  first 
source  of  his  own  information  in  compiling  his  inval- 
uable annals.     The  work,  it  will  be  allowed,  contains  a 


iD 


.OSGl  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  161 

ich  fund  of  interesting  narrative,  relative  to  the  early 
events  which  ought  to  be  remembered,  and  every  page 
ndicates  a  mind  imbued  with  the  true  spirit  of  piety  and 
oenevoience.  Although  written  in  plain  language,  and 
;he  facts  are  unadorned,  the  solid  good  sense  of  the 
luthor,  and  his  laudable  attachment  to  all  good  men, 
md  his  love  of  country,  are  conspicuous  throughout  the 
whole. 

From  the  records  it  appears,  that  Mr.  Morton  was 
secretary  of  the  court  from  1645  to  1685,  the  year  of 
his  death.  He  was  also  for  many  years  town  clerk, 
in  which  he  was  succeeded  by  his  nephew,  elder 
Faunce.  Besides  preparing  the  Memorial,  he  collected 
various  papers  of  much  use  to  the  colony,  and  the  pre- 
sent generation  is  greatly  indebted  to  his  industry,  and 
his  attention  to  manuscri[)ts  and  dates,  and  to  incidents 
which  occurred  in  the  colonies  in  the  infancy  of  their  ex- 
istence. The  Memorial  passed  through  a  second  edi- 
tion in  1721,  to  which  is  attached  a  supplement  byJo- 
siah  Cotton,  Esq.  then  register  of  deeds  for  the  coun- 
ty of  Plymouth,  continuing  the  account  from  1669,  to 
the  union  of  Plymouth  colony  with  Massachusetts.  In 
1772,  a  third  edition,  copied  from  the  second,  was 
printed  at  Newport,  and  in  1826,  a  fourth  edition  was 
printed  by  Allen  Danforth,  at  Plymouth.  A  fifth  edi- 
tion of  this  valuable  work  was  published  at  Boston  in 
1826,  to  which  are  added  numerous  useful  notes,  and  a 
copious  and  interesting  appendix  by  Hon.  Judge  Davis. 

1686. — Mr.  Thomas  Hinckley  was  re-elected  gover- 
nor, and  William  Bradford,  deputy  governor,  from  1682, 
to  the  present  year. 

We  have  to  notice  a  memorable  event  of  this  year. 
On  the  29th  of  December,  Sir  Edmund  Andros  arrived 
at  Boston,  bringing  with  him  an  enlarged  commission, 
which  vested  the  government  of  all  the  colonies  of  New 
England  in  him  as  governor,  and  in  a  council,  nommat- 
ed  by  the  crown  ;  and  in  1688,  New  York  was  includ- 
ed in  the  commission.  From  the  commencement  of 
14* 


162  HISTORY   OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1686 

the  year  1687,  to  the  end  of  April  1689,  he  exercisedi 
a  power  over  these  colonies  little  short  of  despotic. 
During  this  period,  the  history  of  Plymouth,  being 
blended  with  that  of  the  other  colonies,  is  of  a  general, 
rather  than  of  an  individual  character.  Governor 
Hinckley,  whose  office  had  been  superseded  by  the  ap- 
pointment of  Andros,  petitioned  the  king  for  a  redress 
of  grievances  ;  but  the  petition  was  totally  neglected,  and  I 
the  colonists  were  smarting  under  the  severity  of  arbitra-  * 
ry  rule  until  April,  1689,  when  a  rumor  reached  Boston  k 
that  the  Prince  of  Orange  had  landed  in  England. 
The  smouldering  fire  burst  forth  at  once,  to  the  utter 
dismay  of  the  agent  of  despotism.  The  people  ofMas- 
sachusetts,  without  waiting  for  a  confirmation  of  the  re- 
port, seized  their  arms,  proclaimed  William  and  Mary 
King  and  Queen  of  England,  arrested  the  governor,  and 
confined  him  at  the  Casde,  (which  they  now  called 
Casde  William,)  compelled  him  to  resign,  terminated 
the  government,  and  restored  their  old  governor,  Simon 
Bradslreetj  then  at  the  age  of  eighty-seven,  who  was 
called  to  the  chair,  not  by  the  forms  of  a  regular  elec- 
tion, but  by  acclamation.  Tlie  people  at  Plymouth,  ac- 
tuated by  the  same  spirit,  imprisoned  Nathaniel  Clark. 
one  of  the  creatures  of  Andros  and  one  of  his  council,  and 
issued  the  following  : — 

*  e/Z  Declaration  of  sundry  inhabitants  of  Plymouth, 
— Whereas,  w^e  have  not  only  just  grounds  to  suspect, 
but  are  well  assured  that  Nathaniel  Clark  hath  been  a 
real  enemy  to  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  this  people, 
and  hath,  by  lying  and  false  information  to  the  late  gov- 
ernor, caused  much  trouble  and  damage  to  this  place^ 
endeavored  to  deprive  us  of  our  lands,  and  exposed  us 
to  the  unjust  severity  of  persons  ill  affected  to  us. 
whereby  a  considerable  part  of  our  estates  is  unright- 
teously  extorted  from  us,  to  the  great  prejudice  of  our 
families,  and  the  loss  of  many  necessary  comforts,  and 
he  persisting,  from  time  to  time,  in  his  malicious, 
forging,  complaints  against  one  or  other  of  us,  whereby 


16S6]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  16S 

we  are  in  continual  hazard  of  many  further  great  in- 
conveniences and  mischiefs.  We  do,  therefore,  seize 
upon  his  person,  resolving  to  secure  him  for  the  hands 
of  justice,  to  deal  with  him  according  to  his   demerit.^ 

The  seizure  of  Clark,  who  was  excessively  odious 
for  his  meanness  and  rapacity,  was  the  only  act  of  vio- 
lence committed  in  the  Plymouth  colony. 

This  year  died  at  Duxhury,  John  Alden,  one  of 
I  the  pilgrims  of  the  Mayflower,  and  believed  to  have 
been,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  the  last  surviving  sign- 
er of  the  original  compact  of  government,  the  last  of 
the  first  exiled  pilgrims.  He  had  been,  for  many  years, 
deeply  engaged  in  the  public  concerns  of  the  colony. 
An  assistant  as  early  as  1633,  he  was  continued  in  that 
office,  with  but  few  interruptions,  until  the  time  of  his 
death.  He  was  born  in  England  in  1597,  and  died  at 
the  age  of  eighty-nine.  After  the  death  of  Captain 
Standish,  he  was  for  some  time  treasurer  of  the  colony. 
He  possessed  much  native  talent,  '  was  decided,  ar- 
dent, resolute,  and  persevering,  indifferent  to  danger, 
a  bold  and  hardy  man,  stern,  austere,  and  unyielding, 
of  exemplary  piety  and  of  incorruptible  integrity,  an 
iron-nerved  puritan,  who  could  hew  down  forests  and 
live  on  crumbs.  He  hated  innovations  and  changes, 
steadily  walked  in  the  ways  of  his  youth,  and  adhered 
to  the  principles  and  habits  of  those  whom  he  had 
been  taught  to  honor.  The  uncertainty  of  his  claim 
to  the  honor  of  being  the  first  to  leap  on  the  Plymouth 
rock  has  been  noticed,  page  31,  and  the  tradition 
respecting  his  good  fortune  in  obtaining  the  hand  of  a 
lady,  whom  he  was  commissioned  to  solicit  for  his  friend 
Captain  Standish,  in  page  112. 

John  Alden  married  Priscilla  Mullins,  one  of  the 
female  pilgrims,  and  from  them  are  descended  all  who 
bear  the  name  in  the  United  States.  His  son,  John, 
lived  in  Boston,  and  commanded  the  armed  sloop  of 
the  Massachusetts,  and  is  the  John  Alden  who  receiv- 
ed unwarrantable  and  abusive  treatment,  at  the  time  of 


164  HISTORY   OF    PLYMOUTH.  [J686 

the  Salem  witchcraft.^  Joseph  lived  in  Bridgevvater ; 
David,  at  Duxbuiy,  of  which  town  he  was  often  a* 
deputy  to  the  court.  Jonathan  occupied  the  paternal 
farm  at  Duxbury.  A  son  of  David  Alden,  whose  name 
was  Samuel,  lived  in  Duxbury,  and  died  at  the  age  of 
ninety-three ;  he  was  the  father  of  Colonel  Ichabod 
Alden,  of  the  revolutionary  army,  who  was  killed  by 
the  savages  at  Cherry  Valley,  in  1778.  One  of  Jona- 
than's daughters  married  Mr.  Bass,  of  Braintree.  One 
married  William  Peabody,  one  of  the  earliest  settlers 
of  Duxbury,  a  man  much  employed  in  public  affairs, 
and  of  much  respectability.  One  married  Josiah,  a 
son  of  the  warrior.  Miles   Standish.     The  other  mar- 

*  Captain  John  Alden,  of  Boston,  was  sent  for  by  the  magistrates 
of  Salem,  upon  tlie  accusation  of  several  poor,  distracted,  or  possess- 
ed creatures,  or  witches.  On  his  examination,  these  wretches  be- 
gan their  juggling  tricks,  falling  down,  crying  out,  and  staring  in 
the  faces  of  people  in  an  impudent  manner.  The  magistrates  de- 
manded of  them  several  times  who  it  was  of  all  the  people  in  the 
room  that  hurt  them  ;  one  of  the  accusers  pointed  several  times  to 
one  Captain  Hill,  but  said  nothing,  till  a  man  standing  behind  her 
to  hold  her  up,  stooped  down  to  her  ear,  when  she  immediately 
cried  out,  Alden,  Alden  afflicted  her.  Being  asked  if  she  had  ever 
seen  Alden,  she  answered  no;  but  she  said  the  man  told  her  so. 
Alden  was  then  committed  to  custody,  and  his  sword  taken  from 
him,  for  they  said  he  afflicted  them  with  his  sword.  He  was  next 
sent  for  to  the  meeting-house  by  the  magistrates,  and  was  ordered 
to  stand  on  a  chair  to  the  open  view  of  all  the  assembly.  The  ac- 
cusers cried  out  that  Alden  pinched  them  when  he  stood  on  the 
chair  ;  and  one  of  the  magistrates  bade  the  marshal  hold  open  his 
hands,  that  he  might  not  pinch  those  creatures.  Mr.  Gidney,  one 
of  the  justices,  bid  Captain  Alden  confess,  and  give  glory  to  God. 
He  replied,  he  hoped  he  should  always  give  glory  to  God,  but  nev- 
er would  gratify  the  devil.  He  asked  them  why  they  should  think 
that  he  should  come  to  that  village  to  afflict  persons  that  he  had 
never  seen  before  ;  and  appealed  to  all,  and  particularly  challenged 
Mr.  Gi'lney  to  produce  a  charge  against  his  character.  Mr.  Gid- 
ney said  he  had  known  him  many  years,  and  had  been  to  sea  with 
him,  and  always  believed  him  to  be  an  honest  man;  but  now  he 
saw  cause  to  alter  his  opinion.  Alden  asked  Gidney  what  reason 
could  be  given  why  his  looking  upon  him  did  not  strike  him  down 
as  well  as  the  miserable  accusers  ;  but  no  reason  could  be  given. 
He  assured  Gidney  that  a  lying  spirit  was  in  his  accusers,  and  that 
there  was  not  a  word  of  truth  in  all  they  said  of  him.  Alden,  how- 
ever, was  committed  to  jail,  where  he  continued  fifteen  weeks, 
when  he  made  his  escape. 


i 


l6S9]  history  of  Plymouth.  165 

led    Samuel    Delano,    a  son   of  the    early  pilgrims. 
Mrs.  Bass  was  a  maternal  ancestor  of  two  Presidents  of 

he  United  States,  John  Adams  and  John  Q.  Adams. 
i.VIany  excellent  citizens  may  be  enumerated  among 
the  descendants  of  John  Alden.  Judah  Alden,  Esq. 
who  possesses  the  paternal  domain  of  his  great  an- 
cestor, at  Duxbury,  was  a  valiant  officer  in  the  Ameri- 
can army  during  the  eight  years  of  the  revolutionary 
struggle,  and  is  now  president  of  the  Massachusetts 
Society  of  Cincinnati. 

The  Rev.  Timothy  Alden,  late  Minister  of  Yar- 
mouth, and  his  son,  Timothy,  now  president  of  Mead- 
ville  college,  in  Pennsylvania,  were  of  this  descent. 

1687. — The  town  voted  the  price  of  grain  as 
follows ;  wheat  four  shillings,  rye  and  barley  three 
shillings,  Indian  corn  2s.  6d.  the  bushel.  Tar  was 
made  in  great  abundance,  and  disposed  of  in  payment 
of  salaries.  Shingles  and  clapboards  were  considerable 
articles  of  traffic ;  but  furs  and  peltry  were  the 
principal,  as  in  all  new  countries.  In  town  meeting, 
January  23d,  was  read  an  order  from  his  excellency, 
(Andros)  requiring  the  town  of  Plymouth  to  appear 
before  his  excellency  to  substantiate  their  title  to 
Clark's  Island.  The  town  firmly  resolved  to  defend 
their  right  to  said  island  to  the  utmost  of  their  power, 
and  chose  a  committee  to  act  accordingly,  and  voted 
that  the  town  will  defray  the  expense,  and  a  tax  of  ten 
pounds  in  silver  money  was  ordered  forthwith  for  that 
purpose. 

1689,  June22d. — It  was  agreed  to  make  sale  of 
Clark's  Island,  Saquish,  the  Gurnet,  and  a  certain  cedar 
swamp  called  Colchester  swamp,  to  help  defray  the 
above  mentioned  charges.  Clark's  Island  was  sold  to 
Samuel  Lucas,  Elkanah  Watson,  and  George  Morton, 
in  1690.  At  that  period,  under  the  government  of 
Andros,  the  titles  to  real  estate  were  frequently  called 
in  question  throughout  New  England,  by  which  many 
individuals  were  grievous  sufferers. 


1^^  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1690 

The  general  court  of  election   assembled   at  Plv-' 
mouth  as  formerly,  and  on  the  first  Tuesday  of  June' 

w^ir™^^-o^^"^''^^^  ^vas  again   elected   governor,  and 
William  Bradford  deputy  governor. 

1690.— The    colonial    government    appointed    the 
lollowing  persons   as   agents   to   apply  to  the   English  i 
government    for     a    charter :— Sir     Henry    Ashurst  i 
Rev.   Increase   Mather,  and   Rev.    Ichabod   Wiswall' 
mmister   of  Duxbury.       In    February    the   town    of 
Plymouth  voted  their  acceptance  of  the  three  agents 
above   mentioned,   and   also  voted   that   it  was   their 
desire  that  the  utmost  endeavors   be  used  to  obtain  a^ 
charter  of  his  majesty,  that  we  might  be  and  continue* 
a  government  as  formerly.     Further  voted,  they  would 
be  held  for  their  proportion  of  £500,  and  more,  if 
need  require,  for  that  purpose,  and  at  the  same  time 
agreed  to  raise  their   proportion   of  £200  in  advance, 
to  be  sent  to  the  gentlemen  empowered  as  agents.     It 
was  known  to  have  been  in  contemplation  by  the  Ene;- 
hsh   government  to  annex   Plymouth  colony  to  that  of 
New  York,  but  Rev.  Mr.  Mather  has  the  credit  of  pre- 
venting that  annexation  taking  place.     In   169]     the 
general  court   voted  thanks   lo   Sir  H.  Ashurst.  Rev. 
Mr.  Mather,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Wiswall ;  and  to   Sir  H 
Ashurst  a  grant  of  50  guineas,  and  Mr.  Mather  and 
Mr.  Wiswall  25  guineas  each  for  their  services.     A 
charter  was  at  length  obtained  for  Massachusetts,  which 
was  signed  October  7,  1691,  and  Plymouth  was  annex- 
ed to  it.     Had  the  sum  of  £500  been  raised  and  pro- 
perly applied,  a  separate  charter  would  probably  have 
been  obtained.     The  last  court  of  election  was  holden 
at  Pb^mouth,  in  June   1691.     Mr.  Hinckley  was  re- 
elected   governor,  and  William  Bradford  deputy  gov- 
ernor      Sir  William  Phipps,  Kt.  arrived  at  Boston, 
with  the  new  charter,  on  the  J  4th  of  May  1692      He 
was  commissioned  governor-in-chief  in  their  Majesty's 
name  William  and  xMary,  and  summoned  a  court  on  the 
«th  ol  June.     The  new  province  of  Massachusetts  Bay 


L692]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  167 

proceeded  to  exercise  their  charter  authority,  and  the 
3malgamatioii  of  the  two  colonies  was  soon  perfected. 
By  the  new  charter,  Plymouth  colony  was  entitled  to  four 
counsellors.  Those  who  were  first  elected  were  Thom- 
as Hinckley,  William  Bradford,  John  Walley,  and  Bar- 
nabas Lothrop.  The  qualification  of  electors  accord- 
ing to  that  warrant  was,  '  a  freehold  of  40  shillings  per 
ann.  or  other  property  of  the  value  of  £40  sterling.' 
The  old  general  court,  however,  was  summoned,  and 
met  at  Plymouth  on  the  first  Tuesday  of  July,  and  ex- 
ercised their  power  for  the  last  time,  by  appointing 
the  last  Wednesday  of  the  following  August  to  be  kept 
as  a  day  of  solemn  fasting  and  humiliation.  Under 
the  colonial  government,  William  Paddy  was,  it  is  be- 
lieved, the  first  treasurer.  Miles  Standlsh  succeeded 
him,  and  John  Alden  was  chosen  his  successor,  who 
held  the  office  three  years.  Constant  Southworth  was 
elected  in  1659,  and  held  the  office  till  his  death  in 
1679.  The  deputy  governor,  William  Bradford,  was 
then  elected,  and  was  continued  by  successive  annual 
elections,  until  the  termination  of  the  government,  ex- 
cepting during  the  administration  of  Andros.  Nathaniel 
Souther  is  the  first  secretary  whose  name  appears. 
Nathaniel  Morton  was  secretary  from  1645  to  1685. 
Nathaniel  Clark  was  elected  in  1685,  but  held  the 
office  one  year  only.  In  1686,  Samuel  Sprague  was 
elected,  who,  excepting  the  interruption  in  the  gov- 
ernment during  the  time  of  Andros,  held  the  office  un- 
til the  union  of  the  colonies.  It  appears  that  some 
distinguished  individuals  were  dissatisfied  with  the  union 
of  the  two  colonies,  but  Governor  Hinckley  was  well 
reconciled  to  the  measure,  and  it  is  clearly  understood 
that  the  union  was  at  no  period  a  subject  of  regret  with 
the  people  generally.  Governor  Hinckley  sustained  the 
office  of  governor  for  12  years,  and  was  in  that  office 
when  the  union  took  place.  He  died,  according  to  the 
history  of  Massachusetts,  in  1706,  aged  73  years.  But 
by  Prince's  chronology,  it  appears,  that  he  lived  to  the 


168  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [169v 

age  of  85,  and  this  is  probably  correct,  as  Mr.  Princi:] 
was  his  grandson.     The  children  of  governor  Hinck- 
ley were  one  son  Ebenezer,  and  five  daughters,  one  o 
whom,  Mary,  was  married  in  1686  to  Samuel  Prince, 
of  Sandwich,  father  of  the  chronologist. 

Governors  of  the  colony  of  Plymouth  from  1620  to  1692 

1620,  John  Carver,  four  months  and  24  days. 

1621,  William  Bradford. 

1633,  Edward  Winslow. 

1634,  Thomas  Prince. 

1635,  William  Bradford. 

1636,  Edward  Winslow. 

1637,  William  Bradford. 
163S,  Thomas  Prince. 
1639,  WiUiam  Bradford. 

1644,  Edward  Winslow,  3  years. 

1645,  William  Bradford,  31  years. 
1657,  Thomas  Prince,  18  years. 
1673,  Josiah  Winslow,  7  years. 

1680  to  1692,  Thomas  Hinckley,  12  years,  in- 
cluding several  years'  interruption  by  Andros. 

There  is  a  melancholy  grandeur  in  contemplating 
the  extinction  of  this  novel  and  primitive  government, 
which  was  founded  and  continued  in  existence  under 
circumstances  without  a  parallel  in  the  annals  of  histo- 
ry, for  a  period  of  seventy-one  years,  presenting  to  the 
world  an  illustrious  example  of  sacrifices  cheerfully  made 
in  behalf  of  the  highest  blessings, — christian  and  civil 
liberty  and  equality. 

Census  of  the  town  of  Plymouth  at  early  periods, 

1643,  Males  from  16  to  60  years,  capable  of  bear- 
ing arms  146. 

1646,  Freemen  and  townsmen  (voters)  79. 
1670,  Freemen,  51. 

1683 — 4,  Freemen,  65. 
1689,  Freemen,  75, 


1692]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  169 

1  cannot  omit  to  introduce  here  the  noble  patriotic 
sentiments  of  the  late  excellent  President  Dwight,  who 
expresses  himself  in  the  following  eloquent  language.* 
*  Plymouth  was  the  first  town  buiit  in  New  England 
by  civilized  man ;  and  those  by  whom  it  was  built  were 
inferior  in  worth  to  no  body  of  men,  whose  names  are 
recorded  in  history,  during  the  last  seventeen  hundred 
years.  A  kind  of  venerableness,  arising  from  these 
facts,  attaches  to  this  town,  which  may  be  termed  a 
prejudice.  Still,  it  has  its  foundation  in  the  nature  of 
man,  and  will  never  be  eradicated  either  by  philosophy 
or  ridicule.  No  New  Englander,  who  is  willing  to  in- 
dulge his  native  feelings,  can  stand  upon  the  rock, 
where  our  ancestors  set  the  first  foot  after  their  arrival 
on  the  American  shore,  without  experiencing  emotions 
very  different  from  those  which  are  excited  by  any 
common  object  of  the  same  nature.  No  New  Eng- 
lander could  be  willing  to  have  that  rock  buried  and 
forgotten.  Let  him  reason  as  much,  as  coldly,  and  as 
ingeniously  as  he  pleases,  he  will  still  regard  that  spot 
w^ith  emotions  wholly  different  from  those  which  are 
excited  by  other  places  of  equal  or  even  superior  im- 
portance. For  myself,  I  cannot  wish  this  trait  in  the 
human  character  obliterated.  In  a  higher  state  of  be- 
ing, where  truth  is  universally  as  well  as  cordially 
embraced,  and  virtue  controls  without  a  rival,  this  pre- 
judice, if  it  must  be  called  by  that  name,  will  become 
useless,  and  may,  therefore,  be  safely  discarded.  But 
in  our  present  condition  every  attachment,  which  is  in- 
nocent, has  its  use,  and  contributes  both  to  fix  and  to 
soften  man.'    Speaking  of  our  ancestors,  he  says,  '  But 

*  President  Dwight,  formerly  of  Yale  College,  undertook  a  trav- 
elling excursion  through  New  England  and  New  York,  at  (he  ear- 
ly part  of  the  present  century.  He  estimated  the  extent  of  his  la- 
bors at  15,000  miles.  In  1822,  he  published,  in  four  octavo  vol- 
umes, the  result  of  his  observations.  On  the  subjects  of  antiquity 
he  dwelt  with  unceasing  enthusiasm,  and  his  volumes  are  replete 
with  historical,  statistical,  religious,  moral  and  philosophical  infor- 
mation, anU  anecdote  of  unrivalled  interest  and  utility. 
15 


170  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1692 

when  I  call  to  mind  the  history  of  their  sufferings  om 
both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  when  I  remember  theiri 
pre-eminent  patience,  their  unspotted  pievty,  their  im-i 
moveable  fortitude,  their  undaunted  resolution,  theiri 
love  to  each  other,  their  justice  and  humanity  to  thei 
savages,  and  their  freedom  from  all  those  stains  vvhichl 
elsewhere  spotted  the  character  even  of  their  com- I 
panions  in  affliction,  I  cannot  but  view  them  as  illus- 
trious brothers,  claiming  the  veneration  and  applause- 
of  all  their  posterity.  By  me  the  names  of  Carver^ 
Bradford,  Cushman,  and  Standish,  will  never  be  for- 
gotten, until  I  lose  the  power  of  recollection.  *  *  * 

^  The    instiiutions,  civil,  hterary  and  religious,  by 
v^hich  New  England  is  distinguished  on  this  side  the 
Atlantic,  began  here.     Here  the  manner  of  holding, 
lands  in   free  soccage,  now   universal  in   this  country, 
commenced.     Here  the  right  of  suffrage  was  imparted  i 
to  every  citizen,  to  every  inhabitant  not  disqualified  by 
poverty  or  vice.     Here  was  formed  the  first  establish- 
ment of  towns,  of  the  local  legislature,  which  is  called 
a  town  meeting,  and  of  the   peculiar  town  executive, 
styled  the  selectmen.     Here  the  first  parochial  school  i 
was  set  up,  and  the  system  originated  for  communicat- 
ing to  every  child  in  the  community  the  knowledge  oft 
reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic.     Here,  also,  the  first . 
building  was  erected  for  the  worship  of  God ;  the  first 
religious  assembly  gathered  ;  and  the  first  minister  call- 
ed and  settled,  by  the  voice  of  the  church  and  congre- 
gation.    On  these  simple  foundations  has  since  been 
erected  a  structure  of  good  order,  peace,  liberty,  know- 
ledge, morals  and  religion,  with  wliich  nothing  on  this 
side  the  Atlantic  can  bear  a  remote  comparison.' 


END    OF    PART    FIRST, 


PART   II 


We  have  proceeded  thus  far  in  narrating  events  and 
I  incidents  of  the  Old  Colony  and  town  in  connexion,  and 
shown  that  the  primitive  colonial  charter  and  govern- 
?ment  were  abrogated  in  1692.  We  now  commence  a 
I  new  epoch,  and  our  future  details  will  pertain  to  the 
town  as  a  constitutent  of  the  British  Province  of  Mas- 
sachusejtts  Bay,  and  after  our  Independence  the  moreno- 
i  ble  appellation  of  United  States  of  America. 
!  1696. — A  French  privateer  fitted  out  at  Bourdeaux, 
cruising  on  the  American  coast,  was  wrecked  in  Buz- 
zard's Bay.  The  crew  were  carried  prisoners  to 
Boston  ;  the  surgeon,  Dr.  Francis  Le  Baron,  came  to 
Plymouth,  and  having  performed  a  surgical  operation, 
and  the  town  being  at  that  time  destitute  of  a  physician, 
the  selectmen  petitioned  the  executive,  lieut.  governor 
Stoughton,  for  his  liberation  that  he  might  settle  in  this 
town.  This  was  granted,  and  he  married  and  prac- 
tised physic  here  during  life,  but  died  in  1704,  at  the 
early  age  of  thirty-six  years.  Dr.  Le  Baron  did  not 
relinquish  the  Roman  Catholic  religion,  and  was  so 
strongly  attached  to  the  cross,  that  he  never  retired  to 
rest  without  placing  it  on  his  breast.  This  constantly 
reminded  the  people  of  a  religion  which  they  abhorred, 
and  which  they  were  scarcely  willing  to  tolerate  in  a 
single  instance.  He  made  a  donation  of  ninety  acres 
of  wood  land  to  the  town.  His  son,  Lazarus,  studied 
medicine,  and  enjoyed  an  extensive  course  of  practic* 
in  Plymouth  and  its  vicinity,  and  died  lamented  in  ITTo- 


172  HISTORY   OF    PLYMOUrH.  [1 7235  36-' 

aged  75  years.      Two  of  his  sons,  Joseph  and  Laza«-  ^ 
rus,  were  also  physicians,  both  of  whom,  after  residing  ^  -^ 
a  short  period  in  the  West  Indies,  died  in  Plymouth,  asr ; 
did  three    other    sons,    and    the   only  surv^ivor  is  Rev.  r 
Mr.  Lemuel  Le  Baron,    minister  of  a  church  and  so-  •!!* 
ciety  at  Mattapoiset,  (Rochester,)    where  he   was  or- 
dained in  1772.     From   this  stock,   all  that  bear  the 
name  of  Le  Baron  in  this  country  are  descended,  and  ! ' 
they  are  numerous  and  respectable.  ' 

170L — A  canal,  or  water  course,  was  f.ut,  to  convey 
the  water  from  South  Pond  to  the  head  of  Eel  River, 
about  half  a  mile  distant,  the  object  being  to  form  an 
artificial  passage  for  alewives  into  the  pond ;  but  the 
attempt  proved  unsuccessful.  'Elder  Faunce  was  the 
leader  in  this  project,  and,  as  the  water  course  crosses 
the  road,  we  are,  in  passing,  reminded  of  the  venera- 
ble man  whom  we  delight  to  remember. 

171 L — An  attempt  was  made  to  form  an  oyster  bed 
in  Plymouth  harbor.  Oysters  were  procured  and  de- 
posited in  a  certain  place,  with  the  hope  that  they  might 
be  thus  propagated  ;  but  it  was  ascertained  by  the  ex- 
periment, that  the  flats  are  left  dry  too  long  for  their 
habit,  which  requires  that  they  be  covered  at  all  times 
by  water. 

June  13. — James  Warren,  Esq.  died.  He  was  tak- 
en suddenly  ill  as  he  was  going  to  the  general  assem- 
bly. He  was  a  gentleman  of  great  integrity  and  ca- 
pacity, was  sheriff  of  the  county,  and  held  other  re- 
sponsible offices.  His  loss  was  universally  lamented* 
He  left  a  son,  James  Warren,  of  Plymouth. 

1722-3.  February. — On  a  blank  leaf  under  this 
date,  we  meet  the  following  record,  made  by  Elder 
Faunce,  '  Was  a  dreadful  storm,  which  raised  the  tide 
three  or  four  feet  higher  than  had  been  known  afore- 
time.' This  is  the  storm  of  which  Cotton  Mather  gave 
an  account  to  the  Royal  Society  ;  it  was  on  the  24th 
of  February.  In  the  year  1770  was  a  similar  tide  ; 
and  also  about  1785,  when  it  was  level  nearly  with  thQ 


738]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  17t 

3cks  of  the  store  doors  on   wharves,  and  a  quantity  of 
alt  and  other  goods  were  damaged. 

1727.  May. — Elizabeth  Colson,  a  mulatto  womar., 
vas  executed  at  Plymouth,  for  the  murder  of  her  in- 
ant  child. 

1730-31. — A  mortal  fever  prevailed  in  Plymouth  ; 
here  was  an  instance  of  eight  in  the  connexion  of  one 
family  who  died  at  that  time. 

1731-2. — John  Watson,  Esq.  expired  Sept.  9,  aged 
bout  53  years.     He  was  a  useful  and  respectable  in- 
abitant  of  the  town,    transacted    much   business,  and 
fforded  employment  to  a  great    number  of  poor  peo- 
le.     He  was  charitably  disposed,  and  supposed  to  pos- 
ess  the  largest  estate  of  any  person  in  the  county. 
Mr.  John   Watson,  son  of  the  above,  was  a  scholar 
land  a  gentleman.       He  died  in    January,  1753,  at  the 
early  age  of  37  years;  and  his  wife  having  died  before, 
they  left  three  orphan  children,  two  sons  and  a  daugh- 
ter.    One  of  the  sons  was  the  late  John  Watson,  Esq. 
the  second  president  of  the  Pilgrim  Society. 

1737. — The  following  is  the  mark  of  a  whale,  left 
on  record  by  Bejamin  Rider.  The  said  whale  was 
struck  by  Joseph  Sachemus,  Indian,  atManomet  Ponds, 
the  25th  of  November,  1737.  There  were  several 
irons  put  into  her ;  one  was  a  backward  iron  on  her  left 
side,  and  two  irons  on  her  right  side,  and  one  lance  on 
her  right  side.  The  iron  on  the  left  side  was  broke 
about  six  inches  from  the  socket.  She  carried  away 
one  short  warp  with  a  drag  to  it,  and  a  long  warp 
with  a  drag  without  a  buoy.  One  of  the  drag  staves 
was  made  with  white  birch,  &ic. 

J  738. — One  Crimble  was  indicted  at  Plymouth  for 
forging  a  bond,  but  for  want  of  evidence,  was  only 
convicted  for  a  cheats  and  was  ordered  to  wear  said 
bond,  with  a  piece  of  paper  over  it.  with  cheat  written 
thereon,  and  to  stand  on  the  court  house  steps  half  ar 
hour. 

15* 


174  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1749. 

This  year  square-toed  shoes  went  out  of  fashion,  and 
buckles  began  to  be  worn. 

1740. — A  blacksmith  working  at  his  forge  was  spor-- 
lively  beset  by  a  young  man,  against  whose  jugular  r, 
vein  (it  must  have  been  the  carotid  artery)  the  smith 
unfortunately  brought  a  hot  iron,   so  that  he  bled   to 
death  in  six  minutes. 

1741._On  the  Sabbath,  March  30th,  the  town  off|i> 
Plymouth  was  alarmed,  during  divine  service,  by  Joseph 
Wampum,  a  native,  who  gave  information  that  eight 
Spaniards  had  landed  at  his  house,  situate  four  miles 
distant  from  Buzzard's  Bay.  War  existed  at  that  time 
between  England  and  Spain.  Tiiis  notice  therefore, 
justly  excited  an  universal  panic.  The  drums  beat  to 
arms,  and  the  militia  were  ordered  out.  It  proved 
how^ever  to  be  a  false  alarm,  and  has  ever  been  called 
Wampum's  war. 

1745. — A  full  company  of  soldiers  was  this  year  en- 
listed in  Plymouth  for  tlie  expedition  against  Louisburg, 
and  it  was  remarked,  they  were  the  first  for  that  ser- 
vice who  appeared  at  Boston,  whence  they  embarked 
and  served  with  credit  on  that  memorable  occasion. 
Sylvanus  Cobb  was  tlie  captain,  and  Dr.  William 
Thomas,  of  this  town,  w^as  surgeon  in  the  expedition. 

1749. — A  couit  house  was  erected  in  Plymouth, 
near  the  first  meeting  house.  The  town  gave  £1000 
old  tenor,  on  condition  of  having  tlie  privilege  of  using 
it  for  town  meetings.  It  was  planned  by  the  late 
Judge  Oliver,  of  Middleborough.  The  front  door  was 
originally  at  the  east  end,  with  a  handsome  flight  of 
steps.  When  the  door  v/as  altered  a  market  place  was 
made  under  the  house.  When  the  brick  court  house 
was  erected,  in  1818,  die  town  of  Plymouth  pur- 
chased of  the  county,  the  old  court  house,  which  is 
now  used  for  a  town  house. 

It  should  be  gratefully  recorded,  that  John  Murdock, 
Esq.  an  eminent  merchant,  at  his  death,  about  1750, 
gave  £200  (o  the  poor,  and  to  the  school  of  the  town, 


.750]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  175 

-n  equal  portions.  Mr.  Murdock  was  from  Scotland, 
narried  in  this  town  about  1686,  and  again  a  second 
vife  about  the  year  1719,  Phebe  Morton,  a  daughter 
)f  John  Morton,  of  Middleborough.  An  only  daughter 
'Phebe)  of  this  marriage,  became  the  wife  of  WilHam 
ovvdoin,  of  Boston,  a  brother  of  governor  Bowdoin. 
n  intimacy  subsisted  many  years  between  Mr.  Mur- 
ock  and  the  father  of  governor  Bowdoin,  who  was  in 
he  habit  of  making  him  an  annual  visit  at  Plymouth. 
"wo  of  the  oldest  wharves  in  Plymouth  were  built  by 
r.  Murdock,  one  as  early,  perhaps,  as  1691,  at  which 
eriod  there  were  not  more  than  three  or  four  erected. 
1750. — Died  in  this  town,  Isaac  Lothrop  Esq.,  at 
the  age  of  forty-three.  He  was  one  of  the  justices  of 
the  court  of  common  pleas,  and  his  death  occasioned 
general  gloom  in  the  town  and  throughout  the  coun- 
ty. At  the  opening  of  the  next  court,  May  15th, 
Nicholas  Sever,  Esq.  chief  justice  and  Peter  Oliver, 
Esq.  one  of  the  justices  of  the  said  court,  both  ex- 
pressed from  the  bench  the  great  grief  and  sorrow  with 
which  the  court  and  bar  were  affected  by  the  melan- 
choly event,  and  observed  that  colonel  Lothrop  was 
held  in  profound  regard  as  'a  judge,  and  was-  greatly 
respected  for  his  moral  and  christian  virtues.  He  pos- 
sessed a  large  estate,  and  transacted  extensive  business 
in  the  mercantile  line,  in  which  he  sustained  an  hon- 
orable and  upright  character.  Few  men  have  been 
more  affectionately  beloved,  nor  any  whose  death  could 
diffuse  more  heartfelt  sorrow  among  the  poor,  and  in 
every  social  circle.  Mr.  Lothrop  left  four  children, 
Thomas,  Isaac,  Nathaniel,  and  Abigail.  The  following 
inscription  is  found  on  his  tomb-stone. 

'  Had  virtues  charms  the  power  to  save 
Its  faithful  votaries  from  the  grave. 
This  stone  had  ne'er  possessed  the  fame 
Of  being  mark' J  with  Lothrop's  name.' 

An  excise  act,  laying  a  duty   on  wine  and  spirits  con- 
sumed in  private  families,   was  passed,  and  governor 


176  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [175S 


I 


Shirley  suspended  his  assent ;  for  which   an  address  ; 
of  thanks  was  voted  to  him  by  the  town. 

1755. — Nov.  18,  there  was  a  terrible  earthquake  in  , 
America  ;  the   shock   of  which    was   the  most  violent 
that  was  ever  known  in  the  country.       A  spring  in  the 
northwest  part  of  this  town,    in  the    public   road,  was 
shifted,  it  being,  before  that   event,  on  the  east  side  of 
the  road  ;  soon  after,  it  appeared  on  the  west  side,  and  ! 
so  continues,  an  ever-flowing  stream.       Tinker''s  Rock 
Spring  w^as   its  ancient    name  ;  the  rock  is  blown  up. 
This  is  the  well-known    spring  about  half  a  mile  from  . 
town,  near  Mr.  Nelson's  house. 

In  1758,  the  town  chose  a  committee  to  devise  a 
means  of  paving  the  public  streets  in  Plymouth,  but 
the  project  failed  of  success. 

The  names  of  the  two  following  gentlemen  deserve 
to  be  recorded  in  this  place.  The  Hon.  Josiah  Cot- 
ton was  son  of  John  Cotton,  some  time  minister  of 
Plymouth,  and  grandson  of  John  Cotton,  minister  in 
Boston.  He  was  born  in  Plymouth,  Jan.  8th,  1679, 
and  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1G9S,  and  became 
a  teacher  of  a  school  in  INIarblehead,  in  October  fol- 
lowing, where  he  preached  his  first  sermon,  September, 
1702.  In  1704,  he  discontinued  preaching  and  re- 
turned to  his  native  town,  where  he  was  a  school  in- 
structer  for  seven  years.  This  respectable  man  held, 
at  different  times,  several  civil  offices  in  the  county,  as 
clerk  of  the  Inferior  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  Justice  of  ^ 
the  same  court,  Register  of  Probate,  and  Register  of 
Deeds.  He  was  also  occasionally  employed  as  a 
preacher  to  the  Indians  in  Plymouth  and  the  vicinity, 
having  acquired  a  competent  acquaintance  with  their 
language.  He  was  the  author  of  the  Supplement  to 
the  New  England  Memorial.  He  left  a  Diary,  which 
he  began  in  his  youth,  soon  after  he  left  college,  and 
continued  nearly  to  the  time  of  his  decease.  It  is  in 
the  possession  of  his  grandson,  Rosseter  Cotton,  Esq. 
the  present  Register  of  Deeds  for  the  county  of  Plym- 


i758]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  177 

imth.  It  contains  many  historical  facts,  which  it  would 
l^e  desirable  to  have  extracted  and  presented  to  the 
Massachusetts  Historical,  or  to  the  Pilgrim  Society,  for 
hreservation.  Mr.  Cotton  died  in  1756,  aged  76  years, 
leaving  a  numerous  progeny.  He  possessed  a  strong 
lind  sound  mind,  and  was  fervently  pious,  and  indefati- 
gable in  the  discharge  of  all  the  duties  of  his  various 
[md  honorable  stations  in  life. 

John  Cotton,  Esq.  son  of  the  above,  was  born  April, 
ll712,  graduated  at  Harvard  College,  1730,  and  was 
brdained  minister  at  Halifax,  county  of  Plymouth,  Oc- 
fober,  1736.  From  an  indisposition,  which  greatly  af- 
(fected  his  voice,  he  requested  and  received  his  dismis- 
kion  in  1756.  He  succeeded  his  father  in  the  office 
[of  Register  of  Deeds,  which  he  held  until  his  decease, 
■which  took  place  Nov.  4th,  1789,  in  the  78th  year  of 
his  age.  He  was  considered  an  able  theologian,  and 
his  pulpit  performances  were  much  esteemed  by  judi- 
cious auditors.  He  was  the  author  of  the  valuable  Ac- 
count of  Plymouth  Church,  appended  to  the  sermon 
preached  at  the  ordination  of  Rev.  Chandler  Robbins, 
in  1760.  This  account  was  republished  in  the  4th  vol. 
of  the  Collections  of  the. Massachusetts  Historical  So- 
ciety, and  has  been  resorted  to  by  the  author  of  the 
present  work.  He  published,  also,  seasonable  warnings 
to  the  churches  of  New  England,  and  tracts  on  Infant 
Baptism,  and  several  occasional  sermons.  He  was 
chosen  by  the  town,  delegate  to  the  convention  for 
forming  a  constitution  for  the  Commonwealth,  in  the 
year  1780,  and  was  one  of  the  committee  for  the  coun- 
ty to  draft  the  constitution.  He  left  sons  and  daugh- 
ters. Josiah,  the  eldest,  was  the  minister  at  Wareham, 
and  afterwards  a  magistrate  and  clerk  of  the  court  for 
the  county  of  Plymouth.  He  died  April,  1819,  aged 
71,  leaving  one  son,  who  is  a  physician  in  the  state  of 
Ohio,  and  one  daughter  who  is  the  wife  of  Isaac  L. 
Hedge,  Esq.  of  this  town.      Two  other  sons  of  John 


178  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1765." 

Cotton,  are  Rosseter,  the    present  Register  of  Deeds 
for  the  county,  and  Ward,  minister  of  Boylston. 

1761.  March  12th. — Two  shocks  of  an  earthquakei 
were  felt  throughout  New  England. 

1764. — This  year,  the  people  in  the  New  England  i| 
Provinces  began  to  manifest  considerable  alarm  at  the 
measures  of  the  British  administration,  founded  on  their, 
claims  to  make  laws,  and  levy  taxes  on  the  people  with-»- 
out  their  consent. 

1765. — A  Stamp  Act  being  passed  the  British  Par-- 
liament,  the  greatest  excitement  was  created  through- 
out the  American  colonies.  The  inhabitants  of  this 
town  participated  in  the  patriotic  spirit,  and  resolved  to  > 
unite  in  the  general  opposition  to  the  obnoxious  meas- 
ure.* In  town  meeting,  October  14th,  it  was  voted  to 
instruct  their  representative  to  the  general  court,  to  rep- 
resent the  sentiments  and  feelings  of  the  inhabitants  as 
most  decidedly  opposed  to  any  tax  in  the  form  of  stamps 
or  stamp  acts,  and  to  exert  his  influence  against  the  ex- 
ecution of  the  stamp  act.  The  instructions  teem  with 
patriotic  ardor,  calling  to  mind  that  they  inhabit  the 
spot  wliere  our  ancestors  founded  an  asylum  for  liberty,, 
'  We  likewise,'  say  the  instructions,  '  to  avoid  disgra- 
cing the  memories  of  our  ancestors,  as  well  as  the  re- 
proaches of  our  own  consciences  and  the  curses  of  pos- 
terity, recommend  it  to  you  to  obtain,  if  possible, 
in  the  honorable  house  of  representatives  of  this  pro- 
vince, full  and  explicit  assertion  of  our  rights,  and 
to  have  the  same  entered  on  their  public  records,  that  , 
all  generations  yet  to  come  may  be  convinced  that  we 
have  not  only  a  just  sense  of  our  rights  and  liberties, 
but  that  we  never  (with  submission  to  Divine  Provi- 
dence) will  be  slaves  to  any  power  on  earth.'  The 
stamp  act  was  repealed   January    16th,    1766.     The 


*  By  this  act  a  ream  of  ball  bonds  stamped  would  cost  £100  ;  a 
ream  of  common  printed  ones  before  was  £15.  A  ream  of  stamp- 
ed pohcins  of  insurance  was  £190;  of  common  ones,  without  stamps 
je20. 


I 


1769]  HISTORY  or  Plymouth.  179 

■  own  voted  an  address  of  thanks  to  the  town  of  Boston 

for  their  patriotic  measures  in  asserting  and  defending 

.  the  precious  rights  and  liberties  of  our  common  coun- 

%769._On  the  11th  day  of  May  there  was  a  snow 
storm  of  twelve  hours  continuance.  . 

.      Old  Colony  a«6.-This  year  seven  respectab  e  m- 
.dividuals,  inhabitantsofPlymouth,institutedasocia  club 

i  which  th^y  styled  as  above.  They  elected  an  addition- 
al numberof  members,  and  invited  guests  were adm.  ted 
to  their  meetings.     It  was  in  this  club  that  the  custom 
of  solemnizing  the  anniversary  of  the  arrival  of  ou 
,  forefathers  first  originated,  and  this  was  the  pnncipal 
i  obiect   of  its   formation.      I  shall  transcribe  lor  the 
enienainment   of  my     readers,    such    parts   of  their 
records  rs  cannot  fail  of  being  acceptable.     The  late 
Isaac  Lothrop,  Esq.  a  zealous  antiquarian,  was  then: 
president,  and   Captain  Thomas   Lothrop,   secretary. 
^  January  \olh,  1769.-' We  whose  names  are  under- 
written, having  maturely  weighed  and  seriously  consid- 
ered the  many  disadvantages  and  inconveniences  that 
arise  from  intermixing  with  the  company  at  the  taverns 
khi   t^'n.   and  apprehending  that  a  well  regulated 
club  will  have  a  tendency   to  prevent  the  same   and  to 
increase   not  only  the  pleasure  and  happiness  of  the 
espect;e  -embers,   but,  also,  will  conduce  to  their 
edficat  on  and  instruction,  do  hereby  .ncorporate  our- 
selves into  a  society,  by  the  name  ol  xh^   Old  Colony 
Clnl      For  the  better  regulation  of  which  we  do  con- 
sent and  agree  to   observe   all  such  r"les  and  laws  as 
shall   from  time  to  time  be  made  by  the  club      Dated 
at  our  Hall,  in  Plymouth  the  day  and  year  above  writ- 

""■  Isaac  Lothrop.  John  Thomas. 

Pelham  Winslow.  Edward  W.nslow,  Jr. 

Thomas  Lothrop.  John  Watson. 
Elkanah  Cushman. 


180  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [17G 

December    18th. — At  a  meeting  of  the  club,  voted 
that  Friday  next  be  kept  by  this  club  in   commemo< 
ration   of  the   landing  of  our  worthy  ancestors  in  thii 
place  ;  that  the  club  dine  together  at  Mr.  Rowland's 
and  that  a  number  of  gentlemen  be   invited  to  spenc  i 
tloe  evening  with  us  at  the  Old  Colony  Hall. 
Aff^    Old  Colony  Day.  First  Celebration  of  the  Landing 
W   of   our   Forefathers. — Friday,  December   22.     The 
/v    Old  Colony  Club,   agreeably  to  a  vote  passed  the  18th 
instant,  met,  in  commemoration  of  the  landing  of  their 
worthy  ancestors  in  this   place.     On   the  morning  of; 
said  day,  after  discharging  a  cannon,  was  hoisted  uponu 
the  hall  an  elegant  silk  flag,  with  the  following  inscrip-- 
tion,  '  Old  Colony,'  1620.    At  eleven  o'clock,  A.  M. . 
the  members  of  the  club  appeared   at  the  hall,  and  from  i 
thence  proceeded  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Rowland,  inn- 
holder,  which  is  erected  upon  the  spot  where  the  first 
licensed  house  in  the   Old  Colony   formerly  stood  ;  at 
half  after  two  a  decent  repast  was  served   up,   which 
consisted  of  the  following  dishes,  viz. 

1,  a  large  baked  Indian  whortleberry  pudding  ;  2,  a 
dish  of  sauquetach,  (succatach,  corn  and  beans  boiled 
together)  ;  3,  a  dish  of  clams  ;  4,  a  dish  of  oysters 
and  a  dish  of  cod  fish ;  5,  a  haunch  of  venison, 
roasted  by  the  first  Jack  brought  to  the  colony  ;  6,  a 
dish  of  sea  fowl ;  7,  a  dish  of  frost  fish  and  eels ;  8, 
an  apple  pie  ;  9,  a  course  of  cranberry  tarts,  and 
cheese  made  in  the  Old  Colony. 

These  articles  were  dressed  in  the  plainest  manner 
(all  appearance  of  luxury  and  extravagance  being 
avoided,  in  imitation  of  our  ancestors,  whose  memory 
we  shall  ever  respect.)  At  4  o'clock,  P.  M.  the  mem- 
bers of  our  club,  headed  by  the  steward,  carrying  a 
foho  volume  of  the  laws  of  the  Old  Colony,  hand  in  hand 
marched  in  procession  to  the  hall.  Upon  the  appearance 
of  the  procession  in  front  of  the  hall,  a  number  of  de- 
scendants from  the  first  settlers  in  the  Old  Colony  drew 
up  in  a  regular  file,  and  discharged  a  volley  of  small  arms, 


770]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  181 

ucceeded  by  three  cheers,  which  were  returned  by  the 
lub,   and  the  gentlemen   generously   treated.     After 
his,  appeared  at  the  priv^ate  grammar  school  opposite 
he  hall,  a  number  of  young   gentlemen,  pupils  of  Mr. 
iVadsvvorth,  who,  to  express   their  joy  upon  this  oeca- 
iion,  and  their  respect  ibr  the  memory  of  their  ances- 
ors,  in  the  most  agreeable  manner  joined  in  singing  a 
;ong  very  applicable  to  the  day.     At  sunsetting  a  can- 
ion  was  discharged,  and  the  flag  struck.    In  the  even- 
ng  the  hall  was  illuminated,  and  the  following  gentle- 
iien,  being  previously  invited,  joined  the  club,  viz. 
Col.  George  Watson.  Capt.  Thomas  Davis. 

Col.  James  Warren.  Dr.  Nathaniel  Lothrop. 

'       James  Hovey,  Esq.  Mr.  John  Russell. 

"j;     Thomas  Mayhew,  Esq.     Mr.  Edward  Clarke. 
m    William  Wafson,  Esq.        Mr.  Alexander  Scammell. 
j     Capt.  Gideon  White.  Mr.  Peleg  Wadsworth. 

I     Capt.  Elkanah  Watson.     Mr.  Thomas    Southworth 
j  Howland. 

The  president  being  seated  in  a  large  and  venera- 
ble chair,  which  was  formerly  possessed  by  William 
Bradford,  the  second  worthy  governor  of  the  Old  Colo- 
ny, and  presented  to  the  club  by  our  friend  Dr.  Lazarus 
Le  Baron,  of  this  town,  delivered  several  appropriate 
toasts.  After  spending  the  evening  in  an  agreeable 
manner,  in  recapitulating  and  conversing-upon  the  ma- 
ny and  various  advantagesof  our  forefathers  in  the  first 
settlement  of  this  country,  and  the  growth  and  increase 
of  the  same, — at  eleven  o'clock  in  the  evening  a  cannon 
was  again  fired,  three  cheers  given,  and  the  club  and 
company  withdrew. 

1770,  December  24.  In  pursuance  of  the  determin- 
ation at  their  last  meeting,  for  the  purpose  of  celebra- 
ting this  24lh  day  of  December  (the  22d  falling  on  Sat- 
urday,) in  commemoration  of  that  period  which  land- 
ed their  progenitors  safely  on  this  American  shore,  af- 
ter having  endured  the  persecution  of  enemies,  the  per- 
ils of  an  unknown  ocean,  the  crosses  of  fortune,  and 
16 


182  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [177     ' 

innumerable  difficulties  and  hazards  attending  such  era  i 
igrants.  1 

The  morning  of  the  day  gave  such  general  joy  ami 
satisfaction  to  their  descendants  in  this  place,  that,  not 
withstanding  the  severity  of  the  season,  as  soon  as  ligh 
appeared  a  company  of  grateful  youths  paraded  ou; 
streets,  and,  with  cannon  and  volleys  of  small-arms 
aroused  the  town  from  its  slumbers.     At  ten  o'clock 
the  members  of  the  club,  being  joined  by  Messrs.  Al- 
exander Scammell  and  Peleg  Wadsworth,  B.  A.,  as- 
sembled at  the  house  of  Mr.  Howland,  an  innholder  ir 
Plymouth,  and  at  twelve,  were  joined  by  the  following 
gentlemen,  viz.  Thomas  Foster,  James  Hovey,  George 
Watson,  and  James  Warren,  Esqrs.,  Captain  Elkanah 
Watson  and  Doctor  Nathaniel  Lothrop,  of  Plymouth, 
and  the  Hon.  William  Sever,  Esq.  of  Kingston,  where. 
after  having  amused  themselves  in  conversation  upon 
the  history  of  emigrant  colonies,  and  the  constitution 
and  declension  of  empires,  ancient  and  modern,  they 
were  served  with  an  entertainment,  foreign  from  all 
kind  of  luxury,  and  consisting  of  fish,  flesh,  and  vege- 
tables, the  natural  produce  of  this  colony  ;  after  which, 
the  company  being  increased  by  Edward  Winslow,  Esq.,. 
Doctor    Lazarus    Le   Baron,  William   Watson,  Esq... 
Thomas  Mayhew,  Esq.,  Deacon  John  Torry,  Captainn 
Theophilus  Cotton,  Captain  Abraham  Hammett,  Mr. 
Ephraim  Spooner,  and  Mr.  John  Crandon,  a  numberri 
of  toasts  were  drank,  grateful  to  the  remembrance  off' 
our  ancestors,  and  loyal  to  those  kings,  under  whose  in- 
dulgent care  this  colony  has  flourished  and  been  pro- 
tected.    From  which  house,  the  club,  together  with 
the  before   mentioned  gentlemen,  being  escorted  by  a 
select  company,  well  skilled  in  the  military  arts,  walked  i 
in  decent  procession  to  Old  Colony  Hall,  in  the  course 
of  which  they  were  met,  and  attended  upon,  by  a  com- 
pany of  children  from  the  age  of  five   to   the  age   of' 
twelve,  whose  natural  ingenuity  and  the  care  and  at- 
tention of  their  master,  hath  rendered  them  almost  per- 


770]  HISTORY   OF    PLYMOUTH.  183 

ict  military  disciplinarians,  a  scene  that  excited  the 

dmiration  of  every  spectator.     Upon  their  arrival  at 

.16  door  of  the  hall,  the  whole  company  entered  the 

aom,  being  introduced  by  the  steward  and  comph- 

lented  by  the  club,  and  the  escort,  by  whom  was  per- 

ormed  a  variety  of  manoeuvres  and  firings,  to  the  great 

atisfaction  of  every  person  present.*     When  the  sun 

lad  set,  and  the  military  gentlemen  had  dispersed,  the 

31d  Colony  flag  was  struck,  the  cannon  fired,  and  the 

company  in   the  hall  were  joined  by  the  Rev.  Chand- 

er  Robbins,  pastor  of  the   First  Church  of  Christ  in 

Plymouth. 

In  order  to  remind  us  of  the  debt  of  gratitude  w^e 
owe  to  our  God,  and  to  our  ancestors,  the  following 
words  were  spoken,  with  modest  and  decent  firmness, 
by  a  member  of  the  club.  (Edward  Winslow,  Jr.  Esq.) 
'  When  I  recollect,  that  about  one  century  and  a  half 
since,  a  few  worthies  on  the  Island  of  Great  Britain, 
persecuted  and  tormented  by  the  wicked  aspiring 
great,  for  thinking  freely,  and  for  acting  with  the  same 
dignity  and  freedom  with  which  they  thought,  although 
their  sentiments  and  conduct  were  conformed  to  the 
laws  of  the  society  in  which  they  lived,  contrary  to  the 
common  cause  of  suffering  humanity,  wdiich  frequent- 
ly sinks  in  proportion  to  the  power  exerted  against  it, 
did  dare,  in  defiance  of  their  persecutors,  to  form 
themselves  into  one  body  for  the  common   safety  and 

*  Peleg  Wadsworth  was  a  native  of  Duxbury,  graduated  at  Har- 
vard, 1769.  He  was  for  many  years  a  respectable  teacher  of  a 
grammar  school  in  this  town  ;  and  in  1775,  when  minute  compa- 
nies were  formed,  and  the  manual  exercise  arrested  general  atten- 
tion, lie  devoted  much  of  his  time  to  the  instruction  of  young  men 
in  the  use  of  fire-arms,  and  instilling  into  the  minds  of  youth  a  true 
sense  and  value  of  liberty  and  freedom.  He  was  at  some  period  of 
the  revolutionary  war  in  military  service,  and  in  1780  appointed  to 
the  command  of  a  detachment  of  slate  troops,  in  Camden,  state  of 
Blaine.  In  this  situation  he  was  assaulted  and  captured  by  the 
British,  under  circumstances  of  peril  and  suffering  almost  unprece- 
dented.— See  President  Dwighfs  Travels,  and  Thatcher's  Mili- 
tarv  Journal, 


184  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [l77Ci 

protection  of  all,  an  engagement,  which  though  found-l] 
ed  on  the  true  and  genuine  principles  of  religion  and< 
virtue,  unhappy  experience  taught  them  was  too  weafckl 
and  insecure  a  barrier  against  the  arts  and  straiagemsi: 
of  such  potent  adversaries.  When  we  recollect  that,t 
under  these  melancholy  circumstances,  having  no* 
other  resort  to  preserve  the  purity  of  their  minds,  they\ 
abandoned  their  native  country,  their  friends,  their 
fortunes,  and  connexions,  and  transported  themselves 
to  the  city  of  Leyden,  with  the  most  sanguine  hopes 
of  a  protection  which  the  Island  had  refused  to  afford 
them.  When  we  recollect  that  persecution,  from 
another  quarter,  rendered  their  situation  in  the  slates  of 
Holland  equally  as  perplexed  and  disagreeable, — how 
am  I  astonished  that  such  repeated  disappointments » 
had  not  rendered  them  too  weak  ever  to  make  another 
attempt.  But  when  we  view  them  rising  from  their 
misfortunes  with  tenfold  vigor,  and,  upon  the  same 
virtuous  principles,  crossing  the  Atlantic  with  the  dear- 
est companions  of  life,  their  wives,  their  helpless 
offspring,  exposed  to  tlie  roughness  of  the  ocean,  to  the 
inclemencies  of  the  climate,  and  all  their  attendant 
evils,  and  landing  in  the  tempestuous  month  of  Decem- 
ber upon  an  unknown  shore,  inhabited  by  men  more 
fierce  than  beasts  of  prey,  and  scarce  deserving  to  be 
called  human,  natural  enemies  to  their  virtue  and 
morality,  with  whom  they  are  obliged  to  wage  an 
immediate  and  unequal  war  for  tlieir  defence  and 
safety.  When  we  view  them,  under  all  the  disadvan- 
tages naturally  attendant  upon  a  state  of  sickness  and 
poverty,  defending  themselves  against  savage  cruelties, 
and  still  persevering  in  their  virtuous  resolutions,  estab- 
lishing their  religion  in  this  dien  desert,  forming  a  code 
of  laws  wisely  adapted  to  their  circumstances,  and 
planting  a  colony  which,  through  divine  goodness,  has 
flourished  and  become  an  important  branch  of  that 
body  which  caused  their  emigration, — how  am  I  lost  in 
amazement  1  And  to  what  cause  can  we  ascribe  these 


l-I^O]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  185 

deliverances  and  salvation  but  to  that  Almighty  Being 
who  orders  all  events  for  the  benefit  of  maiikind, 
whose  ways  are  to  us  unsearchable,  and  whose  doings 
are  past  our  finding  out. 

.     <  Upon  a  recollection  of  all  these  things,  it  is  not  to 
*,e  wondered,  that  we  the  sons  and  descendants  from 
isuch  illustrious  ancestors,  upon  this  22d  of  December, 
'  assembled  upon  the  very  spot  on  which  they  laiided 
do  commemorate  this  period,  the  most  important  hat 
the  annals  of  America  can  boast,  a  period  whic.i,  1 
,  doubt  not,  every  person  here  present  esteems  an  hon- 
or, as  well  as  his  incumbent  duty,  gratefully  to  remem- 
Iber;    and    while    we    feel   for   the   misfortunes    and 
1  calamities  of  those,  our  pious  ancestors  the  consequen- 
i  ces  of  which  to  us  are  so  delightful  and  glorious,  let  lis 
'   also  admire  and  adore  their  virtue,  their  patience,  theit 
fortitude,  and  their  heroism,  and  continue  to  commemo- 
rate it  annually.     This  virtue  is  undoubtedly  rewarded 
with  joys  which  no  tongue  can  utter,  nor  hath  ,t  entered 
into  the  heart  of  man  to  conceive;   and  if  we  their 
sons  act  from  the  same   principles,  and  conduct  with 
the   same  noble  firmness  and  resolutions,  when  our 
holy  religion  or  our  civil  liberties  are  invaded,  we  may 
exoect  a  reward  proportionate ;   for  such  principles 
Ser  the  soul  tranquil  and  easy  under  all  the  misfor- 
tunes and  calamities  to  which  human  nattire  '«  exposed 
and  of  him  who  is  possessed  by  them,  the  poet  with 
propriety  says, 

"  Should  the  whole  frame  of  nature  round  liim  breal<, 
In  ruin  and  confusion  hurled. 
He  unconcerned,  would  hear  the  mighty  crack, 
And  stand  secure  amidst  a  falling  world. 

The  evening  was  concluded  by  singing  a  song  com- 
posed by  Mr.  Alexander  Scammel.* 

•    16* 


1861  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1771 

1771. — December  20.  At  an  occasional  meeting,' 
Alexander  Scammel,  M.  A.  was,  by  his  desire,  unani- 
mously voted  in  as  a  member  of  the  club. 

December  2Sd.     The  22d  falling  on  Sunday,  the  club^, 
voted  to  celebrate  Foreiather's  Day  on  Monday  the  23di] 
In  the  morning  a  cannon  was  discharged  and  the  fla^' 
hoisted  on  the  hall.     At  noon,  the  club  being  joined  by 
a  number  ofthe  most  respectable  gentlemen  in  town,  met 
in  a  spacious  room  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Wethrell,  inn- 
holder,  where  they  partook  of  a  plain  and  elegant  enter- 
tainment,  and    spent   the    afternoon   in    cheerful    and 
social  conversation,  upon  a  variety  of  subjects  peculiar^ 
ly  adapted  to  the   time.     At   sunset,   upon   a   signaF 
given  by  the  discharge  of  cannon  and  striking  the  flag, 
the   members  of  the  club,  witli  the  gentlemen  of  the 
town,  repaired  to  the  hall,  where  the  aforesaid  sub- 
jects were   resumed,  and   several  important    matters, 
relative  to  the  conduct  of  our  ancestors,  were  discuss- 
ed with  freedom  and  candor,  and  a  number  of  pleasing 
anecdotes  of  our   progenitors    were    recollected    and 
communicated   by   some  of  the   aged   and   venerable 
gentlemen  who  favored  us  with  their  company. 

An   uncommon   harmony  and   pleasantry   prevailed 
throughout  the  day  and  evening,  every  person  present 
exertmg   himself  to  increase   tlie   general  joy.     The 
Old  Colony  song,  with  a  number  of  others,  was  suno- 
after  which  the  company  withdrew.  ^' 

A  letter  from  the  Rev.  Mr.  Robbins  was  communi- 
cated by  the  president,  and  is  as  follows  : 

'Plymouth,  December  2^,  1771. 

Gentlemen  :  1  am  told  it  was   expected  by  some, 
that   as  the  anniversary  of  our  forefathers'  arrival  in 

f^l'A  ^^?T  ^'^^\  °^  1°'^  '^°^"'  September  30th,  1781,  he  re- 
ccived  a  fatal  wound,  and  was  captured  by  the  British  He  died 
m^the  cay  of  Williamsburg,  Virginia,  wheJ^  is  a  monumental  ta^ 

Which  conquering  armies,  from  their  toils  return'd, 
Kear  d  to  his  glory,  while  his  fate  they  mourned.' 

Humphreys. 


1771] 
bis  pi 
aken  : 


HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  187 


„ia  place   fell  on  the   Sabbath   past,   I  would  have 
laken  some  public  notice  of  it  in  the  pulpit.     I  must  ac- 
-nowledge   I  think   there   would   have   been  a   great 
Propriety  in  it,  and  I  am  very  sorry  it  was  entu'ely  out 
)f  my  mind  that  that  was  the  day,  till  I  was  reminded 
of  it  to-day  ;  otherwise  1  should  certainly  have  taken 
notice  of  it,  and  attempted  to  say  something  suitable  to 
'he  occasion  ;  however,  it  is  past  now  ;  but  I  would  on 
this   occasion,  if  it  would  not  be  esteemed   assuming 
in  me,   humbly  propose    to  the    gendemen   o     your 
society,  whether  it  would  not  be   agreeable,  and  serve 
for  the    entertainment  and    instruction   ot    the    rismg 
e-eneration,  more   especially  for   the   future,   on  these 
anniversaries  to  have  a  sermon  in  public  some  part  oi 
the  dav,  peculiarly  adapted  to   the   occasion,  wherein 
should  be  represented  the    motives  that  mduced  them 
to  undertake  such   an  enterprise,  the  amazing  dangers 
and  difficulties  they  conflicted  with  and  overcame,  the 
piety  and  ardor  with  which  they  persevered  through 
numberless  discouragements  and  opposition— the  time, 
manner,  and  other  circumstances  of  their  first  arrival,— 
with  all  the   train  of  surprising  events  that  ensued,-- 
the  appearances  of  the  divine   providence  and  good- 
ness ior  them,  the  noble  and  God-like   virtue  with 
which  they  were  inspired,  so  worthy  the  imitation  oi 
their  posterity,  U^.  &c.— with  many  other  things  that 
would  naturally  fall  in  upon  a   discourse  of  this  kind. 
I  mention  this,  gentlemen,  the  more  freely,  because  1 
remember  it  was  spoken  of  in  conversation   by  some 
of  the  o-entlemen  of  your  company  the  evening  ot  the 
last  anniversary.     I  do  hut  propose  the  thing,  gentle- 
men   for  your  consideration  this  evening,   and  it  it 
shou'ld  prove  agreeable,  I  would  beg  leave  to  suggest 
one  thing  further,  viz.  that  the   minister  to  preach  the 
sermon  be  chosen  by  your  society  somewhere  within 
the  Old  Colony,  and  I  doubt  not  any  gentleman  whom 
you  should  choose  for  that  purpose  would  very  wilhng- 
ly  consent,  in  order  to  encourage  so  good  a  design. 


188  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1772; 

^  And  now,  gentlemen,  I  rest  assured  that  your  can-- 
dor  and  generosity  Is   such,  that  you  will  not  construe} 
what  I   have  offered  in  an  unfavorable  light,  either   as5 
being  dictatorial,  or  seeming  to  desire  myself  the  office ) 
of  speaker  on   such   occasion,  which  1  can   sincerely 
say  is   far  from   being  true.     I   propose  it  for  the  in-  • 
struction  and  entertainment  of  ourselves  and  posterity. 
The   plan,  if  it  should   be  agreeable,  would  afford  us 
opportunity  to  hear  these  matters  discoursed  on  by  a 
great  variety  of  ministers,  who  would  doubtless  take 
pains    to    furnish    themselves    with    entertaining    and' 
useful  materials  for  the  occasion.     And  for  this  end, 
if  they  were   appointed   at   each   anniversary  for  the 
next  year,  they  would  have  so  much  the  better  oppor- 
tunity   to    prepare.     Submitting    the   matter    to    your 
consideration,  I  am,  gentlemen,  with  much  regard,' 
'  Your  friend  and  very  humble  servant, 

'Chandler  Robbins.' 

Voted,  that  Messrs.  Pelham  Winslow,  Edward  Wins- 
low,  Jr.  and  Alexander  Scammel,  should  be  a  commit- 
tee to  prepare  an  answer  to  the  above  letter,  w^hich 
they  are  to  lay  before  the  club  as  soon  as  may  be. 

1772. — January  1th.  Messrs.  Pelham  Winslow, 
Edward  Winslow,  and  Alexander  Scammel,  the  com- 
mittee chosen  the  23d  December,  reported  an  answer 
to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Robbins'  letter,  which  was  approved, 
and  accordingly  forwarded  by  the  club,  and  is  as 
follows : 

Rev.  and  respected  Sir  :  We  have  carefully  perus- 
ed the  contents  of  your  letter  of  the  23d  inst.,  but  before 
we  proceed  to  a  particular  answer  thereto,  we  think  it 
necessary  to  observe,  that  the  members  of  this  society, 
(who  weekly  meet  together  for  the  mutual  advantage  of 
each  other,  to  enjoy  the  refined  pleasures  of  social  and 
unrestrained  conversation,  unalloyed  with  the  disputes 
and  contentions  of  parties)  having  taken  into  considera- 
tion, that  the  celebrating  certain  days  of  each  year, 


;772l  HisToiir  OF  Plymouth.  189 

Lon  which  any  remarkable   event   or  extraordinary 
ransaction  had  happened,  is  a  practice   which  has  the 
•anction  of  antiquity  for  its  justification,  finding  Irequent 
nstances  of  it  in  sacred  as  well  as  profane,  in  ancient  as 
Well  as  modern  history,  not  only  among  nations,  states 
and  churches,  but  even  in  particular  societies  and  cor- 
«orations,-we  were  not  a  little  surprised,  tliat  au  event 
L  important  and   glorious  in  its  consequences  as  the 
landing  of  our  ancestors  in  this  place,  should  be  totally 
neglected  by  their  descendants  ;-consKler„,g  further, 
that  the  assembling  a  number  of  persons  of  different  ages, 
for  the  purpose  of  commemorating  this  t™/;/  remarkable 
period,  would  have  a  natural  and  direct  tendency  to  in- 
troduce subjects  for  conversation  re  ative  to  our  illus- 
trious proaenitors  and  die  history   of  our  country,  the 
aged  u'pon  those  days   would  with  freedom  communt- 
cate  to  the  youth  those  circumstances  ^^fh  had  hap- 
pened within  their  memories,  and  those  also  which  had 
been  casually  related  to   them  by  their  .P'-edeoessors  ; 
by  these  means  many  pleasing  and   curious  anecdotes 
of  our  pious  forefatliers,  which  have  escaped  the  pens 
of  historians,  would  be  snatched  from  obhvion  and  de- 
scend to  posterity  ;   and  while  we,  with  pleasure   and 
graUtude,  were  recollecting  and  admh-ing  their  virtues, 
&pati  nee,  their  piety,  their  heroism,  and  their  for- 
litudi,  we  might  be  incited  to  follow  their  worthy  ex- 

'" fese,  sir,  were  the  principal  motives  by  which  we 

were  actuated,  (wliatever  the  malice  and  envy  of  some 

mi-ht  suggest  to  the  contrary,     when   we  proposed   o 

cfebrate  this  anniversary,  and  we  were  pleased  w£ 

the   expectation   of    being     oined    by   many  of   the 

re  pectlble  members  of  the  Old  Colony  ;  and  (f  om  a 

consciousness  of  the  rectitude  of  our  intentrons,  and  the 

benefit  that  might  result  to  us  and  others  from  this  m- 

stkutn,)  we  flattered  ourselves  that  --t  -  -.rend 

gentlemen  of  the  clergy  would  give  a  sanction  to  .t,  by 

honoring  us  with  their  presence. 


190  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [17721 

'  Our  expectations  have  been,  in  part,  answered,  andl 
we  esteem  ourselves  under  the  greatest  obligation  to  i 
you,  sir,  for  proposing  a  mode  of  celebration  for  the 
future,  so  exactly  correspondent  with  our  most  san- 
guine wishes  and  expectations,  as  that  of  having  a  ser- 
mon preached  on  this  solemn,  as  well  as  important  oc- 
casion." We  concur  with  you  "  that  it  would  be  agree- 
able, and  serve  for  the  entertainment  and  mstruction  of 
the  rising  generation  ;"  and  we  are  of  opinion  that  the 
motives  and  inducements  of  our  religious  forefathers 
for  undertaking  so  dangerous  an  enterprise  as  tlie  settle- 
ment of  this  colony,  the  amazing  difficulties  they  en- 
countered and  overcame,  the  true  vital  piety  and  ardor 
with  which  they  persevered,  their  sincere  desire  to  ad- 
vance the  christian  religion,  and  other  their  noble  and 
godlike  virtues,  are  subjects  that  ought  to  be  minutely 
discussed,  and  solemnized  by  the  sacred  oratory  of  the 
pulpit. 

'  We  have  endeavored  to  deserve  the  compliment 
which  you  have  been  pleased  to  pay  us,  construing 
your  letter  "  with  generosity  and  candor."  We  neither 
esteem  it  "dictatorial,"  nor  as  *' desiring  yourself  the 
office  of  speaker  on  the  occasion." 

'  We  have  impatiently  waited  for  a  proposal  of  this 
kind  to  be  made  to  some  gentleman  of  the  clergy  by 
persons  whose  ages  and  situations  in  life  have  given 
them  greater  influence  than  ourselves,  but  it  has  been 
hitherto  omitted  ;  we  would  modestly  request  (as  you 
are  the  pastor  of  the  first  church  that  was  gathered  in 
the  Old  Colony,  have  the  greatest  advantages  and  op- 
portunities for  collecting  all  the  historical  facts  and  oth- 
er materials  tliat  may  be  necessary  for  this  work,  and 
in  every  other  respect  are  peculiarly  qualified  there- 
for) that  you  would,  upon  the  ensuing  anniversary,  pre- 
pare and  deliver  a  discourse  "  suitable  to  the  time  ;" 
and,  in  complying  with  this  our  request,  we  trust  that 
you  will  not  only  render  a  singular  service  to  the  pub- 
lic, but  will  oblige  many  of  the  respectable  inhabitants 


r72]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  191 

^  of  the  Old  Colony,  and,  in  particular,  the  members  of 
this  society.  We  are,  with  the  most  unfeigned  respect 
and  gratitude, 

'  Your  sincere  friends  and  obedt.  servants, 

'The  Old  Colony  Club. 

'From  Old  Colony  Hall,  December  31,  1771. 
'  Rev.  Chandler  Robbins.' 

1772.  December  \bih. — At  a  meeting,  voted  that 
William  Watson,  Esq.,  Capt.  Elkanah  Watson,  Dr. 
Nathaniel  Lothrop,  Capt.  Gideon  White,  Dr.  Lazarus 
Le  Baron,  Thomas  Foster,  Esq.,  George  Watson, 
Esq.  Edward  Winslow,  Esq.,  Thomas  Mayhew,  Esq., 
James  Hovey,  Esq.,  Deacon  John  Torrey,  and  James 
Warren,  Esq.,  be  invited  to  Old  Colony  Club  on 
Wednesday  evening  next,  then  and  there  to  join  the 
Club  in  proposing  a  method  of  celebration  of  the  next 
22 d  of  December. 

December  16,  at  a  meeting,  present,  Pelham  Wins- 
low,  John  Thomas,  Edward  Winslow,  Cornelius 
White,  Thomas  Lothrop,  Elkanah  Cushman,  John 
W^atson,  Thomas  iMayhew^ 

Thomas  Foster,  James  Hovey,  George  Watson, 
James  Warren, ThomasMnyhew,  William  Watson,  Esq., 
Capt.  Gideon  White,  Dr.  William  Thomas,  Dr.  Nathan- 
iel Lothrop,  by  invitation, 

Voted  by  the  Club  and  the  above  gentlemen, 

1.  That  a  committee  be  chosen  from  among  the 
members  of  this  Club,  to' wait  on  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Robbins,  and  inform  him  that  it  is  expected  by  the 
gentlemen  of  this  place,  that  he  will  gratify  the  public 
by  complying  with  the  request  of  this  Club,  made  in 
their  letter  to  him  dated  the  31st,  of  December,  A.  D. 
J 771,  'to  preach  a  sermon  on  the  ensuing  anniversa- 
ry,' and  that  (if  it  be  agreeable  to  him)  to  begin  the 
services  at  half  after  ten  o'clock  in  the  forenoon. 

2.  That  the  company,   together  with    such  other 


192  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [177^, 

gentlemen  as  may  join  us  from  the  neighboring  towns, 
dine  together  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Howland,  in  Ply- 
mouth. 

3.  That  the  gentlemen  of  the  clergy  belonging  tO) 
this  town,  together  with  those  who  may  be  here  fromi 
the  other  towns,  be  invited  to  dine  with  the  company 
at  Mr.  Rowland's. 

After  the  company  withdrew, 
Voted  by  the  Club,  that  Pelham  Winslow,  John 
Thomas,  and  John  Watson,  be  a  committee  to  wait 
on  the  Rev.  Mr.  Robbins  for  the  purpose  mentioned  in 
the  beforegoing  vote  of  the  company  ;  and  that  they 
also  request  of  Mr.  Rol)bins,  that  he  would,  on  the 
Sabbath  preceding  the  anniversary,  notify  his  church 
and  congregation  of  our  intention  to  celebrate  the  said 
day.  And  that  they  also  wait  on  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Bacon,  and  make  the  same  request  to  him.  And  they 
are  to  make  report  of  their  doings  to  this  Club  on  Mon- 
day at  11  o'clock  A.  M.,  to  which  time  this  Club  is 
adjourned. 

December  22. — Upon  this   22d   day  of  December, 
(to  show  our  gratitude  to  the  Creator  and  Preserver  of 
our  ancestors  and  ourselves,  and  as  a  mark  of  respect 
most  justly  due  to  the  memories  of  those  heroic  chris- 
tians, who  on  the  22d  of  December,  1  G20,  landed  on 
this  spot,)  the  members  of  this  Club  joined  a  numerous 
and  respectable  assembly  in  the  meeting  house  of  the 
first  parish  in  Plymouth,  and,  after  an  hymn  of  praise 
and  prayer  to   God,   the    Rev.   Mr.   Chandler  Rob- 
bins  delivered  an  historic  and  pathetic  discourse,  from 
these  words  ;  *  For  he  established  a  testimony  in  Jacob, 
and   appointed  a  law  in  Israel,  which  he  commanded 
our  fathers,  that  they  should  make    them    known  to 
their  children,  that  the  generations  to  come  might  know 
them,   even   the   children  tvhich  should  be  born  :   who 
should  arise  and   declare  them  to  their  children,  that 
they  might  set  their  hope  in  God,  and  not  forget  the 
works  of  God,  and  keep  his  commandments.' 


1773]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  19S 

In  which,  after  enumerating  many  of  the  virtues  of 
our  predecessors,  he  recounted  their  toils,  their  hazards, 
and  their  troubles  in  their  various  attempts  to  shun  the 
horrors  of  a  despotic  power,  and  the  curses  of  an  ec- 
clesiastical tyranny,  and  to  obtain  a  land  wherein  they 
might  enjoy  their  religion  in  its  purity,  and  peace  of 
conscience.  This  sermon  closed  with  an  address  to 
the  audience,  which  did  honor  to  humanity  and  him- 
self ;  and,  by  the  profound  silence  and  solemn  attention 
which  prevailed  throughout  this  vast  collection  of  peo- 
ple, of  all  ages,  he  must  have  had  the  pleasing  satis- 
faction of  concluding  that  he  had  not  spent  his  strength 
for  nought.  The  New  England  hymn,  composed  by 
Doctor  Byles,  sung  with  uncommon  melody,  finished 
the  exercise. 

That  cheerfulness,  (the  never-failing  companion  of 
grateful  christians,)  might  reign  among  us,  the  members 
of  the  club,  together  w^ith  the  reverend  gentlemen  of 
the  clergy,  and  others,  the  most  respectable  of  the  con- 
gregation, repaired  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Howland,  where 
a  table  was  spread  and  abundantly  furnished  with  the 
various  productions  of  this  now  fruitful  country,  at 
which  the  honorable  general  John  Winslow  presided. 
After  partaking  of  these  bounties,  and  spending  a  few 
hours  in  the  most  social  conversation  upon  the  history 
of  our  country,  the  adventures  of  our  ancestors,  &:c. 
subjects  at  this  time  peculiarly  pleasing,  the  company 
proceeded  to  Old  Colony  Hall,  where  the  same  socia- 
bility and  harmony  prevailed  throughout  the  evening. 

January  6th. — Voted  by  the  club  and  the  gentlemen 
present,  that  the  Rev.  Charles  Turner,  of  Duxbury,  be 
invited  to  pi:each  the  next  anniversary  sermon,  and 
that  Pelham  Winslow,  Thomas  Loihrop,  John  Thomas, 
and  Edward  Winslow,  be  a  committee  to  draft  a  letter  to 
that  gentleman ;  and  that  the  same  committee  write  a  let- 
ter of  thanks  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Robbins,  for  his  sermon  on 
the  22d  ult.,  and  request  a  copy  thereof; — the  com- 
mittee to  make  report  the  next  club  night.  Rev.  -Mr. 
17 


194  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [17735(11 

Turner  accepted  the  invitation  to  preach  the  anniver- 
sary sermon,  and  perfornfied  that  service  Decemberr 
22d,  1773. 

The  committee  reported  the  following  letter  to  the^ 
Rev.  Mr.  Robbins. 

'  Old  Colony  Hall,  January  i'2>th,  1773. 
Rev.  Sir  :  The  members  of  this  society,  deeply  im-- 
pressed  with  a  sense  of  gratitude  for  your  obliging  com- 
pliance with  their  request  to  preach  a  sermon  in  com- 
memoration of  die  setdement  of  our  ancestors  in  this 
place,  beg  leave  to  return  our  sincere  thanks  for  your 
entertaining  and  instructive  discourse  of  the  22d  De- 
cember last,  and  in  order  to  perpetuate  the  many  per- 
tinent observations  therein  contained,  would  modesUy 
request  a  copy,  that  the  rising  generation  may  have  a 
better  opportunity  of  being  benefited  and  instructed, 
which  you  justly  observed,  was  the  more  immediate 
design  of  the  discourse.  We  are  with  all  due  respect, 
your  most  humble  servants. 

'  Old  Colony  Club.' 
Answer. 
'■  Respected  Gentlemen  :  Having  just  received  your 
obliging  favor,  being  from  home  when  it  was  sent,  I 
take  this  opportunity  to  acknowledge  my  obligations  for 
your  acceptance  of  my  endeavors  to  gratify  the  mem- 
bers of  your  society  and  others,  in  the  sermon  you  re- 
fer to.  The  subject  is  so  well  known  and  handled  in 
the  printed  memoirs  of  those  times,  that  a  publication 
of  the  discourse  seems  needless,  and  I  fear  will  never 
answer  your  expectations  and  the  end  you  propose.  I 
shall,  however,  not  be  averse  to  gratify  your  request 
for  a  copy,  if  it  shall  be  judged  any  way  likely  to  af- 
ford any  entertainment  to  the  rising  generation,  and  ask 
the  favor  of  a  little  further  time  to  think  of  the  affair. 
I  am  with  much  esteem,  gentlemen, 

'Your  humble  servant,  C.  Robbins.' 

February  24th, — At  a  meeting,  the  following  letter, 


1773]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  195 

'together  with  the  anniversary  sermon  in  manuscript), 
>vas  this  night  received  from  the  Rev.  Mr.  Robbins. 

'  Plymouth,^  Feb.  23,  1773. 
'  Friends  and  Gentlemen  :  Having  considered  your 
request  to  me  for  a  copy  of  nay  sermon,  preached  at 
the  last  anniversary,  he,  partly  from  the  desire  of 
others,  who  can  never  expect  that  benefit  from  the 
larger  histories  of  those  times  which  you,  gentlemen, 
and  many  others  may  enjoy  ;  but,  chiefly,  in  gratifica- 
tion of  the  request  of  your  society,  to  whom  I  ac- 
knowledge myself  under  obligations  for  their  candor 
and  respect,  1  now  present  you  a  copy  of  said  sermon, 
with  liberty  to  make  what  use  of  it  you  shall  think  pro- 
per ;  and  am,  gentlemen,  with  much  esteem,  your 
obliged  friend  and  humble  servant,  C.  Robbins. 
'  The  Old  Colony  Club: 

JVovember  24th. — At  a  meeting  of  the  club,  James 
Warren,  Esq.,  Mr.  John  Torrey,  and  Mr.  Thomas 
Jackson,  came  in  and  said,  '  that  they  were  a  sub- 
committee (appointed  by  the  committee  of  correspond- 
ence and  communication  of  this  town)  for  the  purpose 
of  informing  this  club  of  the  determination  of  the  said 
committee  of  correspondence  relative  to  the  celebra- 
tion of  the  next  22d  of  December,  and  to  request  that 
the  club  would  join  with  and  conform  thereto.'  Voted, 
that  the  consideration  of  this  matter  be  adjourned  to 
the  next  club  night,  and  that  then  a  written  answer  be 
prepared,  and  on  the  Monday  night  following,  be  pre- 
sented to  the  committee. 

December  Isi. — At  a  meeting  of  the  club.  The 
committee  chosen  at  tlie  last  club  night  to  prepare  an 
answer  to  the  committee  of  correspondence,  reported 
the  following,  wdiich,  being  read  and  considered,  was 
accepted,  and  ordered  to  be  recorded. 

*  To  the  committee  of  communication  and  corres- 
pondence of  the  town  of  Plymouth. 

'  Gentlemen  :  The  Old  Colony  Club  received  your 


196  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1773^1 

message  by  your  sub-commiltee,  with  your  determina- 
tion in  what  way  and  manner  the  ensuing  anniversary  of 
the  22d  of  December  shall  be  solemnized  and  celebrated, 
with  a  request  that  we  would  join  with  and  conform  there- 
to. We  have  fully,  liberally,  and  candidly  considered 
thereof,  and  in  answer  would  observe,  that  this  club 
are  not,  nor  ever  have  been,  anxious  or  desirous  of 
taking  the  lead  and  direction,  or  marshalling  and  regu- 
lating, the  public  solemnities  and  particular  rights  and 
ceremonies  of  that  important  day,  having  always  in- 
vited the  gentlemen  of  the  tow^n  to  a  consultation 
previous  to  any  determination,  and  having  ever  acted 
by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  gentlemen 
present,  and  not  exparte,  as  may  appear  from  the 
records  of  our  proceedings  on  those  occasions.  Justice 
to  ourselves,  however,  emboldens  us  to  say,  that,  as 
we  were  the  first  institutors  of  this  festival,  and  as  no 
event  has  taken  place  to  lessen  our  dignity  or  conse- 
quence as  a  club  since  the  last  anniversary,  we  have 
a  right  to  be  consulted  on  the  manner  of  celebrating 
ft,  whether  the  same  be  taken  into  consideration  by 
the  gendemen  of  the  town,  county,  or  colony.  As 
gentlemen  of  the  town,  we  will  not  dispute  your  right 
of  acting  in  this  matter,  in  conjunction  with  others,  but 
as  a  committee  of  correspondence,  &;c.  (in  which  name 
and  capacity  you  have  accosted  us)  we  absolutely 
deny  your  jurisdiction  and  authority.  By  the  records 
of  this  town  it  appears,  that  you  were  chosen  '  to  com- 
municate and  correspond  with  the  town  of  Boston  and 
other  towns;'  and  in  this  business  we  would  not 
interfere  or  molest  you.  But  we  apprehend  that  your 
contituents  had  no  more  idea  or  suspicion  of  your 
interfering  in  these  matters,  (as  a  committee  of  corres- 
pondence,) than  they  had  of  your  regulating  or  altering 
their  creed,  or  their  catechism.  And  it  appears  to  us^ 
that  you  have  just  the  same  right  to  meddle  with  the 
one  as  the  other,  or,  indeed,  to  determine  any  civil, 
religious,  or  military   matter,  that  has  or   may  arise 


1773]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  197 

within  our  town.  This  partial  and  extrajudical  way 
of  proceeding,  we  apprehend,  will  have  a  tendency  to 
promote  parties  and  divisions,  (which  have  already  too 
long  harassed  and  convulsed  this  once  peaceful  town,) 
rather  than  that  harmony  and  concord,  so  necessary  to 
the  welfare  of  all  societies. 

'  But  should  we  admit  your  right  of  acting  as  a  com- 
mittee of  correspondence,  we  cannot  suppose  so  great 
an  absurdity  as  the  counteracting  your  own  vote  and 
determination,  without  some  sufficient  reason.  You 
must  remember,  that  these  matters  were  fairly  discuss- 
ed and  settled  by  the  gentlemen  of  the  town  in  gen- 
eral, and  the  members  of  this  club,  and  that  by  and 
with  the  consent,  approbation,  and  vote  of  a  majority 
of  the  now  members  of  your  committee.  For  at  a 
meeting  of  a  large  and  respectable  number  of  the  gen- 
tlemen of  this  town  with  the  club  at  Old  Colony  Hall, 
on  the  sixth  day  of  January  last,  for  the  very  purposes 
of  adjusting  and  settling  the  matters  relative  to  the 
celebration  of  the  ensuing  anniversary,  among  whom 
were  a  major  part  of  your  committee,  it  was  unanimous- 
ly voted,  '  that  the  club  should  write  to  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Turner,  and  request  him  to  preach  a  sermon  on  the  next 
22d  of  December,  &z;c.' — In  consequence  of  wiiich,  the 
club  wrote  to  Mr.  Turner,  and  afterwards  received 
his  answer  in  the  affirmative,  (directed  to  the  club,)  as 
may  also  appear  by  our  record.  At  the  same  meet- 
ing it  was  also  moved,  and  agreed  to,  that,  as  the  club 
were  the  original  institutors,  it  was  most  proper  for 
them  to  have  the  direction  of  the  minute  or  lesser 
matters  relative  to  the  celebration.  We  are  now,  and 
always  have  been,  ready  and  willing  to  concur  with 
any  measure  which  may  conduce  to  the  harmonious 
and  agreeable  celebration  of  this  anniversary,  in  com- 
memoration of  the  landing  of  our  forefathers  in  this 
place.  We  think  it  ought  to  be,  and  we  hope  it  ever 
will  be,  kept  and  observed  by  the  gentlemen  of  this 
town,  county,  and  colony  socially,  and  like  a  band 
17* 


198 


HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [17731 

of  brethren, — nor  would  we  contend  for  trifles  orT 
punctilios.  But  your  plan  and  proceedings,  wiihouti^ 
advising  with  or  consulting  the  other  gentlemen  of  the/ 
town,  or  the  club,  appear  to  us  so  great  an  invasion  of 
the  liberty  and  privileges  of  the  gendernen  of  the 
town  of  Plymouth,  and  the  Old  Colony  Club,  that  we// 
cannot  approve  or  comply  with  the  same.  1 

'Dec.  1st,  1773.' 

December  8.— At  a  meeting  of  Old  Colony  Club, 

Voted,  that  the  club,  together  with  such  gendemen  as 
please  to  join  them  from  this  or  the  neighboring  towns, ^ 
will  dine  together  at  Mr.  Witherell's,  upon  the  ensuing  '^ 
anniversary,  and  that  the  clerk  of  this  club  send  a  copy  of  ^ 
this  vote  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Turner  and  inform  him  that  the 
club  expect  the  pleasure  of  his  company  on  that  day. 

Voted,  that  the  club  and  their  friends  will  spend  the 
anniversary  evening  at  the  hall. 

Voted,  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bacon,  and  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Robbins,  and  all  the  social  club,  be  invited  to  dine  and 
spend  the  evening,  as  also  such  other  gendemen  of  the 
clergy  as  may  be  in  town. 

The  reader  cannot  fail  of  being  impressed  with  a 
sense  of  gratitude  for  the  valuable  reminiscences  trans- 
muted by  the  Old  Colony  Club  ;  and  it  is  a  mattter  of 
regret  that  its  existence  had  not  been  protracted  to  a 
later  period:  but  unfortunately,  some  of  the  members 
were  attached  to  the  royal  interest  and  it  was  deemed 
expedient  that  the  club,  should  be  dissolved. 

This  society  possessed  a  library  and  museum.  Of 
the  respectable  members  not  one  now  survives. 

Among  their  invited  guests  at  various  timeswe  no- 
tice the  following  distinguished  names,  of  high  standing; 
m  the  political  and  fashionable  world. 

John  Adams,  Robert  T.  Paine,  Daniel  Leonard, 
Col  Thomas  Oliver,  Richard  Leachmur,  Nathan 
Cushing,  Peleg  Wadsworth,  William  Sever,  Benja- 
mm  Kent,  Gen.  John  Winslow,  and  Dr.  Charles 
btockbridge. 


•7731  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  19^ 

»   1770     JVonintercourse  of  English  Goods. -^ A  large 
^  proportion  of  the  respectable  merchants  of  Boston  came 
-  nto    a  nonintercourse  agreement   agamst  Great  liri- 
ain    and  sent  circular  letters  to  this  and  other  towns 
br  '  their     co-operation.      The    town   voted,  March 
>6th   that  they  will  contribute  all  in  their  power  to  sup- 
3ort  them  in  their  laudable  purpose  of  repelhng  tyran- 
ny and  oppression ;  and  voted  the  thanks  of  the  town 
to  the  town  of  Boston  for  the  firm  and  spirited  opposi- 
tion which  they  have  made  to  the  tyrannical  attempts 
of  the  British  government  to  enslave  our  country,  and 
that  we  will  at  all  times  assist  them  in  such  vigorous 
and  constitutional  measures  as  they  sha  1  adopt  for  the 
preservation  of  our  common  rights.     Voted  also,  that 
we   will  encourage     and    support  the  nonintercourse 
agreement,     and    will  encourage   frugality,   industry, 
and  the  manufactures  of  our  country,  discouraging  the 
use  of  foreign  superfluities,  particularly  the   article  ot 
foreign  tea.     A  committee    of  inspection  was   chosen 
to  inquire,  from  time  to  time,  if  any  person  should  di- 
rectly or  indirectly  contravene  the   above  measures. 
Should  any  one  be  detected  in  importing  goods,  or  ot 
purchasing  of  those  who  import,  their  names  are  to  be 
rM  pubUshed^in    the  newspapers,   and  to  be  reported  to 
.1  I  the  next  town  meeting.     It  was  at  this  period  that  gov- 
a  'i  ernor  Hutchinson,  and  his  adherents,  represented  the 
s  '  party  in  opposition  to  British  measures  as  only  an  un- 
i  V  easy  factious  few  in  Boston,  while  the  body  of  the  peo- 
ple were   quite  contented.     Mr.  Samuel  Adams  was 
thereby  induced  to  visit   James   Warren,  Esq.  of  this 
town,  who  proposed  to  originate  and  estabhsh  commit- 
tees of  correspondence  in  the  several  towns  of  the  co- 
lony, in  order  to  learn  the  strength  of  the  friends  to  the 
rights  of  the  continent,  and  to  unite  and  mcrease  their 
force      Mr.  Adams  returned  to  Boston,  pleased  with 
the  proposal,  and  communicated  the  plan  to  his  confa^ 
dams.     The  measure  was  adopted,  and  thus  originated 
our  committees  of  correspondence,  so  essentially  ser 
viceable  to  our  cause. 


200  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1773 

1772,     JVovemher.—k  town  meeting  was  called   bv 
desire  of  one  hundred  inhabitants,  to  take  into  considera- 
tion the  alarming  condition  of  our    public  affairs,  occa- 
sioned by  the  violation  of  our  rights  and  the  repeated 
attacks  made  on  our  constitution  by  the  British  Parlia- 
ment.     They    enumerated    among   their   grievances 
taxations  without  our  consent,  with  extension  of  admi- 
ralty jurisdiction,  with  the  quartering  of  soldiers  in  the 
town  of  Boston,  the  lawless  insolence  and  murders  they 
have  commuted,*  with    the    contemptuous    and    un- 
constitulional  treatment  of  our  general  court  from  time 
to  time,  makmg  the  governor  independent  ofthe  peo- 
ple, and  many  other  grievances  from  the  memorable  era 
of  the  stamp  act.     A  standing  committee  of  communi- 
cation and  correspondence,  consisting  of  thirteen,  was 
chosen  to  communicate  freely  with  the  town  of  Boston, 
and  any  other  town  on  the  subject  of  grievances,  with 
liberty  to  apply  to  the  selectmen  at  discretion  to  call  town 
meetings. 

1773.     DecmJer.—Parliament   having   passed  an 
act  enabling  the  East  India  Company  in  London  to 
export  their  teas  to  America,  subject  to  an  unconstitu- 
tional tax  or  tribute,  the   town  resolved,  that  the  dan- 
gerous nature   and  tendency  of  importing  teas  as  pro- 
posed, subject  to  a  tax  upon  us  without  our  consent,  is 
alarming,  and  ought  to  be  opposed.     And  further,  that 
the  persons  to  whom  the  said  India  company  have  con- 
signed their  tea  which  they  propose  to  send  to  Boston 
have,  by  their  endeavoring  to  accept  of  and  execute 
their  commission,  forfeited  that  protection  every  good 
citizen  is  entitled  to,  and  exposed  themselves  and  Their 
abettors  to  the  indignation  and  resentment  of  all  e;ood 
citizens      That  it  is  an  affront  to  the  common  sense  of 
mankind,  and  to  the  majesty  of  the  people,  who  are, 
under  Crod,  the  source  from  which  is  derived  all  power 
and  majesty  m   every  community,  to  assert,  that  any 

*  Alluding  to  the  massacre  of  6th  of  March ,  1770. 


1773]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  201 

neeting  of  the  people  to  concert  measures  for  their 
common  security  and  happiness  on  every  extraordina- 
ry and  alarming  occasion,  is  either  unlawful  or  irregu- 
lar, since  no  legislature  could  be  supposed  to  establish 
rules  of  conduct  in  such  cases  as  no  man  could  ever 
suppose  would  take  place  in  a  free  and  good  govern- 
ment. That  the  late  meetings  of  a  very  large  and  res- 
pectable body  of  the  inhabitants  of  Boston  and  other 
towns,  and  their  determination  at  said  meetings  rela- 
tive to  the  importation  and  reshipping  of  any  teas  that 
have  or  may  be  sent  here  subject  to  a  duty  on  impor- 
tation, were  both  necessary  and  laudable,  and  highly- 
deserving  the  gratitude  of  all  who  are  interested  in,  or 
wish  the  prosperity  of  America. 

It  was  voted  that  we  are  in  duty  and  gratitude  bound, 
not  only  to  acknowledge  our  obligations  to  the  body 
who  composed  that  meeting,  for  that  noble,  generous, 
and  spirited  conduct  in  the  common  cause,  but  also  to 
aid  and  support  them  in  carrying  their  votes  and  re- 
solves into  execution  ;  and  we  will,  at  the  hazard  of  our 
lives  and  fortunes,  exert  our  whole  force  to  defend  them 
against  the  violence  and  wickedness  of  all  our  common 
I  enemies. 

It  appeared  to  be  the  firm  determination  of  the  in- 
habitants of  this  town,  that  so  long  as  a  compulsory 
tone  was  assumed  by  the  parent  country,  so  long  the 
tone  of  defiance  ought  to  be  maintained  by  the  patriot- 
ic people  of  the  Provinces.  '  For  oppression  will  make 
a  wise  man  mad.' 

On  Monday,  13th  December,  at  the  adjournment  of 
the  town  meeting,  Edward  Winslow  and  others  present- 
ed a  protest  against  the  resolves  and  proceedings  of  the 
last  meeting,  but  the  town  voted  not  to  have  it  read. 

1774. — The  inhabhants  of  the  town,  animated  by 
the  glorious  spirit  of  liberty  which  pervaded  the  Prov- 
ince, and  mindful  of  the  precious  relick  of  our  forefa- 
thers, resolved  to  consecrate  the  rock  on  which  they 
landed  to  the  shrine  of  liberty.     Col.  Theophilus  Cot- 


202  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1774  , 

ton,  and  a  large  number  of  inhabitants  assembled,  withi 
about  30  yoke  of  oxen,  for  the  purpose  of  its  removal.  ( 
The  rock  was  elevated  from  its  bed  by  means  of  larc^o 
screws;  and  in  attempting  to  mount  it  on  the  carrint^c, 
it  split  asunder,  without  any  violence.  As  no  one  had 
observed  a  flaw,  the  circumstance  occasioned  some  sur- 
prise. It  is  not  strange  that  some  of  the  patriots  of  the 
day  should  be  disposed  to  indulge  a  little  in  superstition, 
when  in  favor  of  their  good  cause.  The  separation  of 
the  rock  was  construed  to  be  ominous  of  a  division  of 
the  British  Empire.  The  question  was  now  to  be  decid- 
ed whether  both  parts  should  be  removed,  and  being 
decided  in  the  negative,  the  bottom  part  was  dropped 
again  into  its  original  bed,  where  it  still  remains,  a  few 
inches  above  the  surface  of  the  earth,  at  the  head  of 
the  wharf.  The  upper  portion,  weighing  many  tons, 
was  conveyed  to  the  liberty  pole  square,  front  of  the 
meeting-house,  where,  we  believe,  waved  over  it  a  flag 
with  the  far-famed  motto,  ^  Liberty  or  Death.' 

1774. — At  a  town  meeting,  March  24th.  As  the 
committee  of  correspondence  had  not  been  altogether 
successful  in  preventing  the  sale  of  tea,  it  was  resolv- 
ed that  whoever  continues  to  sell,  or  Rhall  for  the 
future  expose  to  sale,  in  this  town,  any  India  tea,  is, 
and  ought  to  be  considered  as  an  enemy  to  the  rights 
of  America  and  the  constitution  of  the  country.  And 
we  will  have  no  intercourse  or  dealings  with  such  per- 
sons, till  there  be  a  change  in  the  circumstances  of  the 
country  which  will  justify  such  conduct,  and  that  we 
will  consider  as  inimical  to  this  country,  all  those  who 
shall  have  any  dealings  with  them. 

August  15th,  voted  to  return  our  sincere  and  hearty 
thanks  to  the  town  of  Boston,  for  their  patience  and  vir- 
tue under  their  present  sufferings  in  the  common  cause 
of  America,  and  also  voted  to  choose  a  committee  to 
collect  all  such  sums  of  money,  or  articles  that  any  per- 
sons will  give  in  the  town,  for  the  support  of  the  suffer- 
ing poor  of  said  town  of  Boston,  to  enable   them  slill 


74  ]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  203 

o  persevere  with  firmness  and  fortitude  under  their 
.ufFerings.  Goods  and  provisions  to  a  considerable 
iniount  were  contributed  in  this  town  for  the  poor  in 
Boston  on  this  serious  occasion. 

Then  voted,  that  whereas  a  certain  publication  in 
.he  Massachusetts  Gazette,  of  July  14th  last,  purport- 
ng  to  be  the  cordial  congratulations  of  the  Justices  of 
:he  Court  of  General  Sessions  of  the  Peace  and  Infe- 
rior Court  of  Common  Pleas  for  the  county  of  Plym- 
outh, to  his  excellency  Thomas  Gage,  Esq.  on  his  ap- 
pointment to  the  high  office  of  first  magistrate  of  this 
Province,  &ic.  contains  injurious  reflections  on,  and  il- 
liberal insinuations  concerning  the  body  of  the  clergy, 
and  the  committees  of  correspondence  in  the  several 
f  towns  in  this  Province,  as  if  the  said  commissioners  had 
assumed  a  title  and  business  without  the  appointment 
of  their  several  towns,  and  had  been  encouraged  and 
supported  by  the  clergy  in  an  unjustifiable  influence  on 
the  people, — We,  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Plym- 
outh, the  shire  town  of  said  county,  conceive  it  our  du- 
ty to  bear  our  testimony  against  said  publication,  its  aid- 
ers and  abettors,  and  therefore  vote  and  resolve  : 

1.  That  we  ourselves,  and  we  conceive  by  far  the 
greater  part  of  the  country,  have  a  great  respect  for  the 
clergy  in  this  province,  and  the  conduct  of  a  majority  of 
them  relative  to  the  political  circumstances  of  the  coun- 
try. 2.  That  the  committee  of  correspondence  of  this 
town,  and  we  conceive  those  of  the  other  towns  where 
they  subsist,  were  regularly  appointed  by  their  sever- 
al towns  for  very  valuable  purposes,  and  have  answer- 
ed the  expectations  of  their  constituents,  and  are  there- 
fore entitled  to  countenance  and  respect  from  all  men 
and  bodies  of  men.  3.  That  the  solemn  league  and 
covenants  entering  into,  appear  to  us  calculated  to  in- 
crease the  honor  and  dignity  of  the  sovereign,  to  pro- 
mote the  true  interest  of  our  parent  country,  and  to 
restore  the  harmony  of  society. 

Sept.  I9th, — Chose  a   committee  of  nine  to  watch 


204  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [177 


I 


: 


and  make  discovery  of  any  one  importing  or  selling 
tea,  and  report  to  the  committee  of  correspondence. 
Afterwards  added  ten  more  to  the  committee,  and  en-^- 
joined  the  strictest  vigilance.  Chose  James  Warren, 
Esq.  and  Isaac  Lothrop,  Esq.  representatives,  and  th 
following  instructions  were  given  : — '  Being  apprehen- 
sive that  the  chief  design  of  convening  the  gener- 
al assembly  at  this  unusual  season  of  the  year,  is  to 
make  trial  whether  we  will,  in  whole  or  in  part,  submit 
to  the  late  acts  of  parliament  respecting  this  Province 
and  it  being  our  fixed  sentiment  that  said  acts  are  cruel 
unjust  and  oppressive,  subversive  of  our  most  sacre 
rights,  we  cannot  in  conscience  advise  to  the  least  sub 
mission,  but  on  the  contrary,  expect  and  desire  our  said 
representatives  to  oppose"them  to  the  utmost,  in  all  prop- 
er ways  and  methods,  strictly  adhering  to  our  charter 
rights  and  privileges  :  more  particularly  we  enjoin  them 
by  no  means  to  co-operate  or  act  in  concert  with  the 
new  set  of  mandamus  counsellors,  whose  appointment 
is  founded  on  the  destruction  of  our  charter,  which  we 
hold  sacred  and  inviolable  in  all  its  parts ;  and  no  pow- 
er on  earth  has  a  right  to  disannul  it,  and  God  forbid 
that  we  should  give  up  the  inheritance  of  our  fathers, 
or  tamely  submit  to  the  efforts  of  despotism  and  the 
loss  of  freedom.  And  gentlemen,  if  in  consequence  of 
such  opposition  from  you  and  others,  the  general  assem- 
bly should  be  dissolved,  or  otherwise  hindered  from 
acting,  we  expect  a  Provincial  Congress  will  be  imme- 
diately formed,  and  that  you  will  act  as  members  of  it; 
concerting  such  measures  with  our  brethren  of  other 
towns,  as  will  have  the  most  effectual  tendency  to  shake 
off  the  yoke  of  oppression,  and  prevent  the  operation 
of  those  acts  of  which  we  so  justly  complain.'  A  com- 
pany of  minutemen  was  raised  and  provided  for  by  the 
town,  about  this  time. 

1775.  January. — The  awful  crisis  was  evidently 
approaching,  which  should  decide  the  momentous  ques- 
tion whether  the  colonies  were  to  be  subjected  to  ab- 


I'hITTS]  history    of    PLYMOUTH.  205 

■^tjfect  slavery,  or  their  unalienable  rights  and  liberties 
feemed  upon  a  substantial  foundation. 
I    The  magnanimity  with  which  the  inhabitants  of  this 
i  jown  encountered  the  hazardous  contest,  was  not  sur- 
::  jassed  by  any  in  the  province,  and  kw  towns  in  J^ew 
■^et  England   were   subjected   to  greater   sacrifices.     The 
■icr  [jod  fishery  was  almost  the  sole  support  of  the   town  ; 
-M!  ieventy-five  schooners  were  employed   in  that  service 
J3i.  fn  1774,  and  it  was  well   known  that  not  a  sail  could 
lee  3ass  from  the  harbor  after  the  commencement  of  hos- 
tilities.     The  wealthiest   merchants   could   anticipate 
lothing  but  the   most  mortifying  embarrassments,  and 
the  poor  could  have  no  better  prospect  than  starva- 
tion. 

James  Warren,  Esq.  and  Isaac  Lothrop,  Esq.  were 
ichosen  to  represent  the  town  in  provincial  congress, 
and  the  following  were  their  instructions  : — 

'  Gentlemen :  You  are  chosen  to  represent  us  in 
provincial  congress,  at  a  time  when  we  not  only  suffer, 
in  common  with  our  sister  colonies,  the  evil  effects  of 
!  the  tyranny  of  the  British  government,  but  when  we 
I  have  to  struggle  with  additional  difficulties  and  embar- 
rassments peculiar  to  our  situation  here.  Oppression 
has  taken  her  principal  residence,  and  is  exerting  her 
most  strenuous  efforts,  aided  and  supported  by  manda- 
mus counsellors,   commissioners   of  the  customs  with 


all  their  tools  and  dependants,  as  perhaps  are  not  to  be 
paralleled  in  any  other  country  under  heaven,  and 
these  backed  by  a  large  naval  and  land  force  fiom 
Great  Britain,  for  the  purpose  of  effectually  subduing 
this  province,  and  reducing  us  to  a  state  of  vassalage 
and  abject  slavery, — while  we,  embarrassed  with  diffi- 
culties arising  from  a  want  of  the  exercise  of  the  pow- 
er of  government,  and  by  a  suspension  of  executive 
justice,  are  unable  to  make  any  vigorous  opposition. 
We  are  sensible  of  the  many  difficulties  the  congress 
have  to  encounter,  and  the  important  business  they  have 
to  transact,  and,  among  the  rest,  that  very  important 
18 


2^6  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1775' 

one  of  assuming  the  exercise  and  administration  of 
civil  government  ;  this  we  presume  to  be  a  part  of  their 
business,  because  important,  and,  as  we  think,  absolute- 
ly necessary  to  be  done,  and  therefore,  instruct  you  to 
use  your  endeavors  to  effect  it.  We  admire  the  pru- 
dence, the  patience,  and,  in  short,  the  remarkable  vir- 
tue of  the  people  of  this  province,  which  alone  for 
lYiany  months  has  supported  that  justice,  peace,  and 
good  order,  which  has  so  generally  prevailed  ;  but  we 
dare  not  hazard  the  remaining  any  longer  in  such  a 
situation:  feeble  must  be  our  efforts  and  precarious 
our  happiness,  while  the  first  rests  only  on  recommen- 
dations, without  the  sanction  and  penalties  of  laws  to 
enforce  them,  and  the  last  is  exposed  to  the  interested 
malice  and  collective  strength  of  our  enemies,  encour- 
aged by  the  weakness  and  temerity  of  some  of  our 
friends  :  we  therefore,  have  thought  it  our  duty,  under 
rhese  many  and  peculiarly  difficult  circumstances,  to 
aid  and  assist  you  by  our  advice  and  instructions,  and 
we  do  repeatedly  enjoin  it  upon  you,  that,  (unless  you 
meet  certain  and  undoubted  intelligence  that  our  griev- 
ances are  or  will  immediately  be  redressed)  you  with- 
out delay  unite  your  votes  and  influence  for  establish- 
ing a  form  of  government  as  free,  as  stable,  and  vigor- 
ous, and  in  all  respects  as  advantageous  to  the  good 
people  of  this  province  as  possible.  That  we  may  be 
able  to  defeat  the  designs  of  our  enemies,  and  again 
sit  down  in  peace  and  safety  under  our  own  vine  and 
fig  tree  :  leaving  it,  nevertheless,  to  your  prudence  and 
discretion,  if  any  unforseen  circumstance  should  take 
place,  to  act  in  such  a  way  and  manner  as  you  shall 
think  most  beneficial  to  the  interest  of  this  province.' 
Then  voted,  to  choose  a  committee  of  vigilance  to 
watch  the  conduct  of  tories,  he.  It  was  voted  to  erect 
a  fort  on  Cole's  Hill,  and  great  exertions  were  made  to 
procure  powder  for  the  use  of  the  town.  Voted,  that 
any  person  who  shall  fire  at  birds,  contrary  to  the  vote 
of  the  town,  shall  have  their  guns  taken  from  them^ 


1775]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  207 

and  their  names  entered  on  the  list  of  offenders.    The 
whole  community  was  divided  into  two  opposing  polit- 

Iical  parties,  designated  by  the  epithets  of  whig  and 
tory.  The  whigs  forming  an  immense  majority,  were 
the  ruling  party.  The  operation  of  the  laws  was  sus- 
pended ;  there  was  no  efficient  legal  government,  no 
legal  tribunals  in  existence ;  the  selectmen  of  towns 
and  committees  of  safety  were  voluntarily  acknowl- 
edged as  the  paramount  authority.  Although  every 
individual  claimed  unrestrained  liberty,  few  enormities 
were  committed.  But  the  poor  tories,  however  honest 
in  their  views,  were  subjected  to  peculiar  hardships ; 
free  liberty  was  not  allowed  to  them.  The  modes  of 
disciplining  the  tories  were  various  and  singular.  The 
public  authorities  required  a  full  recantation,  and  a  de- 
claration to  that  effect  was  published  with  their  signa- 
ilirres  in  the  newspapers.  Some  of  the  papers  were 
crowded  with  these  tory  acknowledgments.  When 
the  populace  assumed  mob  authority,  the  offenders 
were  subjected  to  the  greatest  indignity.  In  some  pla- 
ces they  adopted  a  novel  mode,  which  they  called 
smoking  the  tories,  which  was  done  by  confining  them 
in  a  room  with  a  fire  and  the  top  of  the  chimney  cov- 
ered. Sometimes  a  coat  of  tar  and  feathers  was  ap- 
plied. It  was  not  uncommon  to  transfer  the  punishment 
to  the  man's  horse,  by  cropping  his  ears  and  shaving 
his  tail.  This  town  was  not  encumbered  with  an  over 
proportion  of  disaffected  people.  Some,  indeed,  there 
were,  who  for  years  had  enjoyed  the  emoluments  and 
benefits  of  the  royal  government,  and  were  not  yet 
convinced  that  the  fountain  had  become  corrupt,  and 
that  meandering  streams,  impregnated  with  the  foulest 
ingredients,  were  undermining  the  blessed  heritage  of 
their  fathers.  They  were  not  prepared  to  absolve  their 
consciences  from  the  duties  enjoined  by  the  holy  axiom, 
^  Fear  God,  and  honor  the  king.'  Another  portion  of 
this  class  of  people,  stood  aloof  from  the  duties  and 
proceedings  which  the  great  crisis  required,  not  so  muck 


208  HF STORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [I775'r 

from  unworthy  or  sinister  motives,  as  from  a  timid  andi 
pusilhmimons   spirit,  viewing   tlic  project  of  a  wnrfaret 
with  so  potent  an  ant;i2;o!iist  as  an   herculean  hihor,  far: 
exceeding  tiie   ahililies  of  those   champions   who   had 
undertaken   the  tremendous  experiment.     They  con- 
ceived that  a  single  campaign  would  annihilate  our  ary 
my  and    resources,  and    all  who   appeared    under  thai 
colonial  standard   would  fall  a  sacrifice,  as  traitors  antft 
rehels.     Ahout  ton  or  twelve   inhahitants  of  this  tovvn'i 
were  accused  of  hcing   enemies   to  their  country  and 
were  taken  hy  warrants  and  arraigned  hefore  the  town 
for  examination,   but,  on  rendering   satisfactory  assur-- 
ance  of  peaceable  behavior,  were  liberated. 

A  few  of  the  obnoxious  royalists  abandoned  their  na- 
tive town,  but  those  who  remained  became  peaceable 
citizens,  and  submitted  to  tho  jreneral  laws  and  pro- 
ceedings. Tiiere  were,  however,  a  few  instances  of 
the  turbulent  and  incorrigible  l)eing  brought  to  the  lib- 
erty pole,  and  compelled  to  subscribe  to  a  recantation 
of  sentiment.  The  town  authority  was  not  known  to 
stain  its  reputation  by  any  unjustifiable  severities,  or 
riotous  proceedings.  In  one  instance,  however,  an  in- 
dividual received  some  severe  discipline  from  indiscreet 
persons.  A  man  by  the  name  of  Dunbar,  brought  to 
the  market  a  beef  ox,  which  it  was  discovered  liad  been 
slaughtered  by  a  tory  in  town,  who  being  a  notorious 
ofFciider  against  the  ruling  parly,  a  number  of  persons 
assembled,  enclosed  Dunbar  in  the  carcass,  and  lied 
the  iripo  round  his  neck,  and  he  was,  in  that  condition 
carted  out  of  town.  Subsequently  to  this  cataslroplie, 
Dunbar  had  the  imprudence  to  appear  again,  on  horse- 
back. He  was  ordered  to  quit  the  town  without  delay, 
but,  with  a  turbulent  and  obstinate  air,  he  refused  to 
obey.  He  was  then  lied  on  his  horse,  and  escorted  to 
some  distance,  during  wliich  he  was  so  extremely  out- 
rageous as  to  sulFer  considerable  injury,  and  at  length 
a  cart  was  procured,  in  which  he  was  conveyed  be- 
yond the  limits  of  the  town. 


1775]  HlfeTORY   OF    PLYMOUTH.  209 

].  In  one  instance,  the  torles  in  Barnstable  availed 
themselves  of  liberty-pole  discipline.  Mr.  C.  and  sons 
ihad  rendered  themselves  odious  lo  the  people  by  their 
active  zeal  in  the  royal  cause,  and  a  vindictive  temper 
towards  the  whig  party  ;  a  widow  woman  frequently 
induked  herself  in  applying  to  them  the  epithet  tory, 
and  Iven  intimated  a  liberty-pole  exhibition.  1  his  in- 
discretion was  not  to  be  passed  with  impunity,  a  num- 
ber of  men  in  disguise  entered  her  chamber  in  the  night, 
took  her  from  her  bed,  and  after  the  application  of  tar 
and  feathers,  she  was  by  a  rope  round  her  body  hois  - 
ed  almost  to  the  top  of  the  pole,  which  had  been  erect- 
ed by  die  whigs.  Her  dreadful  shrieks  soon  collected 
:  a  throng  of  people,  but  the  poor  woman  could  obta.n  no 
j  other  redress  than  that  bestowed  by  her  friends,  who 
I  kindly   shaved  her  head,  and   cleansed  it  of  tar  and 

i*63.iliGrs 

An  innocent  trick  was  devised  by  some  persons  in 
this  town,  which  occasioned  at  that  lime  a  genera   sur- 
prise and  agitation.     An  egg  was  P«duced  with  the 
following  words  imprinted  on  the  shell  by  the  aitifice 
of  some  tories.     '  O  America,  America,  Howe  snM  be 
thy  conqueror;     The  egg  being  taken  from  the  hen 
roost  of  Mr.  H.  on  Sunday  morning,  and  exhibited  to 
a  concourse  of  people  assembled  for  P<'bl>c.worsh,p  ex- 
cited  the  greatest  agitation,  and  the  meeting  was  lor 
some  time^suspended^     The  tories  affected  to  believe 
that  the  phenomenon  was  supernatural,  and  a  revela- 
tion from  heaven  favoring  their  cause  and  P'-ediclions  ; 
and  some  whigs  were  ready  to  fall  into  the  delusion 
when  one  less  credulous,  observed  that  it  was  absurd 
To  suppose  that  the  Almighty  would  reveal  his  decrees 
o  man  through  the  medium  of  an  old  hen.     Thus  end- 
ed'he  farce  I  but  the  story  of  the  egg  -s  the  sul^ec 
of  newspaper  speculation  in  various  par  s  of  «he  coun 
°ry,  and  tile  alarm  which  it  occasioned  in  the  mmds  of 
some  people  here  was  truly  astonishing. 

In  the  year  1775,  General  Gage  ordered  a  company 
X8* 


^iO  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH,  [1775 

of  king's   tmops,  called   the   '  Queen's  guards,'  com- 
manded by  captain  Balfour,  to  be  stationed  at  Marsh- 
field,   for    the    protection    of  some    royalists.      Cap- 
tain Balfour  and  his  officers  soon  made  themsejves  ac- 
quainted with  the  friends  of  the   royal   cause  in   this 
town.     Their  visits  here  were  not   pleasing  to  the  to- 
nes, as  the  whig  party  was  known   to  be  in  a  state  of 
such  ferment,  that  a  small  spark  might  kindle  a  blaze, 
and  create  a  fatal  collision.     They  were,  however,  in- 
vited to  dine  with  Edward  Winslow,  Esq.,  in  the  house 
in  which  I  now  write,  in  company  with  a  number  of  re- 
spectable  gentlemen   of  their    party   in  town.     Cap- 
tain   Balfour    desired    to    have    the    opinion    of    the 
company     present,     on    the    expediency    of    march- 
mg  his  company  of  guards   into  Plymouth.     In  dis- 
ciissmg  the   subject,  one  of  the  gentlemen,  Mr.  John 
Watson,  was  observed  to  be  silent.     Captain  Balfour 
took   him  aside,  and  said,  *  Mr.  Watson,  I   observed 
that  you   gave  no   opinion    respecting  my  proposal,   I 
should  be  glad  to  have  your  opinion  and  advice  on  the 
subject.'     Mr.  Watson  replied,  '  It  is  my  opinion  that 
It  will  not  be  prudent  to  bring  your  company  here,  for 
the   people  are  m   a  state   of  great    excitement   and 
alarm.      '  Will  they  fight .? '  says  Balfour.     '  Yes  '    re- 
plied Wat9on,  '  like  devils.'     On  further  consideration, 
the  plan  was  wisely  abandoned,  from  an  apprehension 
oi  the  consequences.     Had  the  company  marched  into 
town,  they  would  have  found  a  large  majority  of  its  in- 
habitants proud  of  the  seat  and  character  of  their  an- 
cestors, and  determined  to  transmit  them  to  posterity 
that  they  may  inhale  with  their  earliest  breath  a  love 
of  liberty  and   the  people's   rights.     Under  such  cir- 
cumstances, it  is  highly  probable  that  a  collision  would 
have  taken  place,  and  the  first  battle   been  fought   at 
Plymouth  instead   of  Lexington.     While  stationed  at 
Marshfield,  Captain  Balfour  and  his  officers  fi-equently 
visited  their  friends    at   Plymouth.     On  one  of  these 
visits,  umbrage  was  taken  by  some  of  the  watchful  sons 


775]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  211 

.nibertv,  one  of  whom  asserted  that  an  officer  had 
nenaced,  with  a  drawn  sword,  an  individual  in  the 
;treet :  a  numerous  collection  of  people  soon  were  pre- 
pared to  avenge  in  a  spirited  manner  the  insult   wheth- 
er real  or  pretended.     The  officer  was  obhged  to  re- 
treat and  enter  an  apothecary's  shop  occupied  by  Dr. 
Dix,  a  tory,  for  safety.    The  shop  was  soon  surrounded, 
and  the  officer's  sword  peremptorily  demanded,    bo  re- 
solute were  the  assailants  that  the  sword  was  forced  rom 
the  officer,  and  instantly  cut  into  several  pieces.     1  hese 
particulars  have  recently  been  related  to  ihe  au  hor 
L  captain  W.  Weston,  who  was  standing  by  at  the  time 
and  who  preserved  a  piece  of  the  sword,  and  thinks  it 
may  still  be  found.     This,  account  is  essentially  confirm- 
-ed  by  R.  Cotton,  Esq.  and  others  who  were  present. 
Capt.  Balfour,  with  his  company  remained  at  Marsh- 
\  field  for  several  weeks  unmolested,  but  the  day  after 
Lexington  battle,  governor  Gage,  apprised  ol  their  dan- 
ger, took  ofFhis  troops,  by  water,  to  Boston.  ^ 

At  this  period  minute  companies  were  orgamzed  in- 
town,  and  immediately  on  hearing  of  the  bloodshed  at 
Lexington,  Col.   Theopbilus  Cotton,    of    this  town, 
mar  bed  t;  Marshfield  with    a  detachment  of   militia 
"nderhis  command.     There  were  at   the  same  time 
about  sixtv  fishing  vessels  with  their  crews  on  board  at 
anchor  fn  Plymouth  harbor.     The  fishermen  v;o^unta- 
rny  left  their  vessels,  and  speedily  marched  to  Marsn- 
field  with  their  arms,  resolutely  delermined   to  attack 
the  company    of  Bri.ish   troops.     When    arrived   at 
Marshfield,  their  numheis  had   increased  to  near  one 
Zsand  men,  collected  from  the  df««  7-' buy- 
ing with  the  feelings  of  revenge  :  they  might  have  sur- 
Znded  and  cep.ured  the  whote  company  before  they 
could  get  to  their  vessels,  but  were  ••«.ra,ned  by  Co  . 
Cotton  who  it  is  said  had  received  no  orders  fo  the  at- 
?ack     i  company  of  fifty  men  belonging  to, ^is  town 
was  enrolled  under  the   command  of  C^pt.  INathaniel 
Morion,  jr.,  who  with  oth^r  companies  formed  the  de- 


212  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [n7C|ll 

tachrnent  under  Col.  Cotton,  which,  after  the  aflair  a; 
Marshfield,  marched  to  Roxbury  and  joined  the  prov< 
incial    army   stationed    there,    where    they  continuec 
through  the  year.     They  formed  a  part  of  the  detach- 
ment ordered  to  throw  up  entrenchments  on  the  heigbti 
of  Dorchester,  on  the  4th  of  March,  J  776,  where  ihe 
author    was     present    in    the     capacity  of    surgeon's 
mate.     From  this  period,  through   the  whole  revolu- 
tionary war,  this  town  contributed  its  full  proportion  ot 
officers  and  men  for  the   continental  service,   a  consid- 
erable number  of  whom  were  victims  to  the  cause  of 
their  suffering  country  ;  and  it  would  be  gratifying  could 
their  names  be  transmitted  to  posterity,  but  no  researchu 
in  the  writer's  power  could  effect  the  desirable  object. 
Col.  Theophilus  Cotton  was  the  son  of  Josiah  Cotton,, 
Esq.  of  this  town,  noticed  in  page  147.    He  was  a  zeal-- 
ous  and  active  whig  and  patriot,  served  some  time  im 
the  provincial  army,  and  died   February,  1782,  agedi 
sixty-six,  leaving  many  children;  one  only,  the  widow* 
of  Capt.  Charles  Dyer,  is  still  living  in  this  town. 

The  colonies  were  now  involved  in  actual  hostili- 
ties with  one  of  the  most  powerful  nations  in  Europe, 
whose  fleets  and  armies  were  at  our  doors.  Our 
means  of  defence  scarcely  adequate  to  a  single  exigen- 
cy, and  opposition  was  considered  by  many  as  the  ex- 
treme of  folly  and  presumption.  But  appealing  to 
Almighty  God  for  the  justness  of  their  cause,  the  peo- 
ple resolved  to  buckle  on  their  armor,  and  the  motto. 
Liberty  or  Death,  was  every  where  displayed  on  their 
banners.  The  colonies  had  virtually  absolved  them- 
selves from  all  British  authority  and  laws,  and  were, 
by  that  authority,  declared  to  be  in  a  state  of  actual 
rebellion. 

1776. — The  momentous  subject  of  independence, 
from  Great  Britain  now  called  forth  all  the  wisdom  of 
our  councils,  and  demanded  the  united  energies  and 
co-operation  of  the  whole  people.  Unanimity  of  senti- 
ment, on  a  subject  of  such  infinite  importance,  was 


776]  HISTOEY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  213 

iot  to  be  expected.  Some,  even  of  the  wisest  and 
est  patriots  were  extremely  reluctant  to  exchange  a 
oble,  ancient  edifice,  ever  held  in  honor,  for  s.mple  ^ 
pxiater  als  of  a  novel  structure,  hable  to  be  deracmated 
by  uncertain  contingencies.  But  hear  the  h.gh-toned 
yoice  of  our  town  on  this  great  occasion. 
\  May  lO.-Instructions  to  the  town's  representatives 
in  Provincial  Congress  : — 

.  G^TLEMEN  :    We,  in  the  most   solemn   manner 
charge  you,  that  you  use  all  your   inftuence,  that  you 
iexert  every  power  in  you  vested,   m  defence  of  the 
;  igte,   he^liberties,  and'  property  of  the  Amencan  col- 
onies in  general,  and  of  this  colony  m  parucular,  m 
opposition  to  the' efforts  of  the  proud   and   .mpenous 
court  of  Great  Britain,   which  seems  to  be   ost  to  a 
sense  of  justice,  and  determmed  to  deluge  all  Ameri- 
ca in  bloid  and  carnage,  .mless  we  by  a  tame,  unman- 
:  W    ubmission,  will  put  ourselves  in  thejr  power,  to  be 
controUed  by  them  as  they  please  in  all  cases  whatev- 
er     We,  your  constituents,  resenting  such  mso  ent  and 
notoriously  unjust  demands  of  the  Brmshparhament 
and  of  their  tyrannising  kmg,  mstruct  you  ,  I.   inat 
vou   without  hesitation,  be  ready  to  declare  for  mde- 
Hdence  on  Great  Britain,  in  whom  no  confidence 
^n  be  placed,  provided  the  honorable  the  cont.nental  . 
con-ress  shall  think  that  measure  necessary,  and  we, 
fo   our  pans,  do  assure  you,  that  we  w.ll  stand  by  the 
d  terminatio'nofthe  continental  congress  m  the  rm 
nortaiit   and,  as  we  think,  necessary   measure,  at  the 
?°sk  of  our  1  ves  and  fortunes.     2.  We  wish  you  to  use 
;'  m  Sence,  that;such  a  form  of  gove^n^ent  may  b 
adopted  as  may  appear  most  salutary,  «"d  ~  "^^Y- 
bid  fairest  to  ensure  a  permanent  h"™^"^  *°  *;,';°  . 
onies,  and  the  real  happiness  and  \>^°X'\1  ^^^2- 
ca,  to  the  latest  posterity.     In  /=>"'-;'«,  '."^^^^^^^"e 
mend  it  to  you  to  use  your  influence,  'l'^''  executive 
and  legislative  offices  in  the  government  do  not  meet 
in  the  same  person. 


214  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [ITT     1^' 

A  British  armed  brig,  commanded  by  Captai 
Dawson,  appeared  in  our  outer  harbor,  when  tvv 
small  privateers,  one  commanded  by  Captain  Corbe, 
Barnes,  the  other  by  Captain  Charles  Dyer,  both  • 
this  town,  attempted  to  reconnoitre  her  ;  a  number  < 
shots  were  exchanged,  but  they  finally  separate 
without  much  damage  on  either  side.  A  lady  wh 
was  a  staunch  loyalist,  a  visiter  here  from  Bostoi 
was  seen  at  her  chamber  window  clapping  hand  ^ 
and  shouting  huzza  for  Dawson.  She  was  a  few  day 
after  met  in  the  street  by  Captain  Barnes,  who  gav 
her  a  gross  insult. 

There  is  in  Kingston  a  hill  of  great  elevation,  usu 
ally  called  Monk's  Hill.  In  the  early  part  of  the  war 
a  tall  mast  was  erected  on  this  hill,  on  the  top  o 
which  was  placed  a  barrel  of  tar  and  other  combusti ; 
bles,  as  a  signal  of  alarm  on  the  approach  of  the 
enemy.  Captain  Manly  having  captured  a  number  o 
British  prizes,  made  his  appearance  with  other  priva- 
teers like  a  formidable  fleet  in  the  bay.  *  It  is  hij 
majesty's  fleet  coming  to  burn  the  town,'  said  the  tories. 
*  Fire  the  beacon  and  call  in  our  country  friends,'  said 
the  whigs.  All  was  confusion  and  alarm,  military 
music  was  heard  in  the  streets,  the  minute-men  were 
summoned  to  arms,  and  sentinels  were  posted  at  their 
stations.  A  man  was  dispatched  to  Monk's  Hill  to 
fire  the  tar-barrel,  the  light  and  smoke  ascended  to 
the  clouds,  and  spread  the  alarm  far  and  wide  :  soon 
the  town  was  filled  with  armed  men,  who  crowded 
into  private  houses,  claiming  to  be  fed  as  the  defend- 
ers of  the  town,  and  were  provided  for  accordingly. 
The  agitation  and  bustle  continued  through  the 
night,  and  in  the  morning  the  joyful  tidings  were  pro- 
claimed that  the  valiant  Manly  had  entered  the  harbor 
with  a  number  of  valuable  prizes  !  * 

*  The  reader  of  Scott's  novels  will  be  reminded  of  the  conster- 
nation produced  among  the  good  citizens  of  Fairport,  by  a  similar 
mistake  of  Caxtou  and  Edie  Ochiltree. — Antiquary,  vol.  ii. 


r77]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  215 

17T7  and  1778.     The  town  experienced  unexam- 
'"iled  privations  and   sufferings  in  consequence  of  the 
k)ss  of  commerce  and  fishery,  the  whole  sea  coast  and 
*:^rbor   being   completely   obstructed    by   the    British 
firmed  vessels.     The  seamen  of  the  town  were  driven 
fffjmost  to  despair,  some  of  them  engaged  as  soldiers  in 
ifie    continental    army,   others    shipped    on    board    of 
JBtrivateers,  leaving  their   families  destitute,  while  the 
iisessels  belonging  to   the  town  were   perishing  at  the 
Jii/harves.     Here  were  numerous  examples  of  poverty 
*tyithout  hope  of  relief;  the  community  embroiled  in 
larty  excitements,  families  and  friends  at  variance  and 
ii-he  glorious  cause  of  our  country  in  a  state  of  awful 
ir,.uspense  ;  still,  however,  the  noble  spirit  of  patriotism 
olferaained  unbroken,  and  the  fortitude  and  patience  of 
i-he  majority  of  the  people  were  truly  remarkable. 
e    At  this  distressing  period,  complaints  were  made 
ifigainst  several  of  the  most  respectable  inhabitants,  as 
■)eing  inimical  and   disaffetted  to  the  common  cause, 
sas  appears  recorded  in  the  towns  book  as  follows. 

*  To  Thomas  Mayhew  Esq,  one  of  the  justices  of  the 
Deace  of  the  county  of  Plymouth.  I,  the  subscriber, 
',lerk  of  the  committee  of  correspondence,  inspection 
and  safety  for  the  town  of  Plymouth,  hereby  represent 
to  you  as  a  justice  of  peace  in  the  county  aforesaid, 
that  there  is  in  the  opinion  of  said  committee  sufficient 
reason  to  suspect  that  the  following  persons,  naming 
them,  nine  in  number,  residing  in  said  town  of 
Plymouth,  within  the  state  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  are 
inimical  to  the  United  States;  and  you  are  requested 
upon  this  representation  to  proceed  immediately 
against  the  above  named  persons,  agreeable  to  an  act 
of  said  state,  passed  the  present  session  of  the  general 
court,  entitled  an  act  for  prescribing  and  establishing 
an  oath  of  fidelity  and  allegiance.  By  order  of  the 
committee  of  correspondence,  &;c. 

'Andrew  Croswell,   Clerk. 

'Plymouth,  February  llthy  1778.' 


216  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1778 

In  consequence  of  the  foregoing  rejiresentation, 
Thomas  Mayhew,  Esq.  issued  his  warrant  to  the 
sherifFof  the  county,  to  notify  the  several  persons  there- 
in named  to  appear  on  the  12th  day  of  February  to 
take  the  oath  prescribed,  which  he  performed  accord- 
ingly. The  assemblage  of  people  on  this  novel  occa- 
sion was  very  numerous,  and  considerable  excitement 
and  agitation  were  manifested.  The  persons  arrested 
were  tories,  but  highly  respectable  ;  they  were  treated 
with  lenity,  and  having  complied  with  the  requirements 
of  the  law  were  liberated,  and  subsequently  found 
among  our  most  peaceable  and  useful  citizens. 

1778.  December  26th  and  27th. — The  inhabitants 
of  this  town  were  called  to  witness  a  catastrophe,  truly 
appalling  to  humanity.  The  brig  General  Arnold, 
mounting  20  guns,  having  a  crew  of  105  men  and 
boys,  commanded  by  Ca plain  James  Magee,  of  Bos- 
ton, sailed  from  that  port  on  Thursday,  24th  of 
December,  bound  on  a  cruise.  On  Friday,  ancliored 
ofl"  Plymouth  harbor,  being  desthute  of  a  pilot.  In 
the  night  a  heavy  gale  drove  her  on  the  White  Flat. 
She  soon  filled  wiih  water  and  it  became  necessary  to 
cut  away  the  masts.  Unfortunately,  a  great  disturb- 
ance was  occasioned  by  intoxication  among  some  of 
the  seamen  in  the  steerage,  which  was  with  difficulty 
quelled  by  the  officers.  A  tremendous  storm  of  wind 
and  snow  came  on,  and  a  considerable  number  of  men 
died  on  Saturday  afternoon  and  in  the  night.  Three 
men,  not  of  the  crew,  being  on  board,  took  the  yawl, 
and  passed  eight  or  ten  rods  to  the  ice,  and  were 
taken  on  board  a  schooner  that  was  frozen  in.  Had 
the  boat  been  returned  as  promised,  many  lives 
would  have  been  saved. 

Sunday  morning,  the  vessel  was  seen  in  a  most  dis- 
tressful situation,  enveloped  in  ice  and  snow,  and  the 
whole  shore  was  frozen  to  a  solid  body  of  ice,  the 
winds  and  waves  raging  with  such  dreadful  violence 
that  no  possible  relief  could  be  afforded  to  the  misera- 


1778]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  217 

ble  sufferers.  Tlie  inhr-bitants  made  every  efibrl  to 
reach  the  wreck  in  boats,  but  were  obliged  to  put  back, 
although  aware  that  the  seamen  were  in  the  arms  of 
death,  and  when  the  miserable  victims  on  board  saw 
the  boats  returning  leaving  them  in  a  condition  of  ut- 
ter hopelessness,  their  spirits  were  appalled,  and  num- 
bers were  seen  to  fall  dead  on  the  deck.  On  Monday, 
the  inhabitants  passed  over  the  ice  to  the  wreck. 
Here  was  presented  a  scene  unutterably  awful  and 
distressing.  It  is  scarcely  possible  for  the  human  mind 
to  conceive  of  a  more  appalling  spectacle.  The  ship 
was  sunk  ten  feet  in  the  sand,  the  waves  had  been  for 
about  thirty-six  hours  sweeping  the  main  deck,  the 
men  had  crowded  to  the  quarter  deck,  and  even  here 
they  were  obliged  to  pile  together  dead  bodies  to 
make  room  for  the  living.  Seventy  dead  bodies  fro- 
zen into  all  imaginable  postures  were  strewed  over  the 
deck,  or  attached  to  the  shrouds  and  spars ;  about 
thirty  exhibited  signs  of  life,  but  were  unconscious 
whether  in  life  or  death.  The  bodies  remained  in  the 
posture  in  which  they  died,  the  features  dreadfully- 
distorted  ;  some  were  erect,  some  bending  forward, 
some  sitting  with  the  head  resting  on  the  knees,  and 
some  with  both  arms  extended,  clinging  to  spars  or 
some  parts  of  the  vessel.  The  few  survivors,  and  the 
dead  bodies,  were  brought  over  the  ice  on  sleds  and 
boards,  and  the  dead  were  piled  on  the  floor  of  the 
court  house,  exhibiting  a  scene  calculated  to  impress 
even  the  most  callous  heart  with  deep  humility  and  sor- 
row. It  has  been  said  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Robbins 
fainted  when  called  to  perform  the  religious  solemni- 
ties. Those  bodies  that  were  to  be  deposited  in 
coffins  were  first  put  into  the  town  brook ;  a  considera- 
ble number  were  seen  floating  on  the  water,  fastened 
by  ropes,  that  their  form  might  be  made  to  conform  to 
the  coffin.  But  about  sixty  were  thrown  into  a  large 
pit  as  they  were  taken  from  the  vessel.  This  pit,  is 
in  a  hollow  on  the  southwest  side  of  the  burial  ground, 
19 


•218  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1779 

and  remains  without  a  stone.  The  greater  part  of 
those  who  were  found  alive,  expired  soon  after.  Cap- 
tain Magee  survived,  and  performed  several  profitable 
voyages  afterwards.  He  abstained  entirely  from 
drinking  ardent  spirits,  but  was  of  opinion  that  he  was 
greatly  benefited  by  putting  rum  into  his  boots. 
Those  who  drank  rum  were  the  more  immediate  vic- 
tims, several  being  found  dead  in  the  very  spot  where 
they  drank  it.  A  man  named  Downs,  belonging}  to 
Barnstable,  was  apparently  dead,  but  on  being  seen  to 
move  his  eyelids,  was  put  into  a  vessel  of  cold  water 
for  several  hours,  by  which  he  was  resuscitated,  but  with 
the  most  exquisite  pain.  He  lost  both  of  his  feet,  but 
lived  many  years  after.  Among  those  who  perished 
were  Dr.  Mann,  of  Attleborough,  Dr.  Sears,  Captain 
John  Russell,  of  Barnstable,  commander  of  the  marines, 
and  Lieutenant  Daniel  Hall.  The  two  last  were  bu- 
ried in  one  grave  on  the  south  side  of  the  burial  hill. 
JVbfe. — It  should  be  observed  that  when  persons  are 
exposed  to  intense  cold  there  is  always  a  propensity 
to  sleep,  but  the  moment  it  is  indulged  it  becomes  the 
sleep  of  death. 

1779. — At  a  meeting  of  the  town,  Resolved,  as  the 
laws  enacted  by  our  provident  ancestors,  with  wonder- 
ful wisdom  and  sagacity,  for  the  establishment  and  reg- 
ulation of  schools,  have  diffused  an  universal  spirit  of 
knowledge  and  inquiry,  not  to  be  met  with  in  other 
states  or  kingdoms,  and  have  been  a  great  means,  un- 
der Providence,  of  preserving  this  people  from  the 
shackles  fabricated  for  them  by  a  foreign  power,  and 
as  the  preservation  of  the  freedom,  health,  and  vigor  of 
the  state  depends  in  a  great  measure,  upon  the  strictest 
attention  being  paid  to  this  institution  :  Resolved,  that 
the  school  committee  be  ordered  to  provide  (if  such 
one  be  not  already  provided)  an  able  an  faithful  master 
to  keep  the  grammar  school  in  this  town,  possessed  of 
such  qualifications  as  are  required  by  law. 

This  town,  was  this  year  subjected  to  extreme  diffi- 


1781]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  21B 

culty  and  expense  In  raiding  soldiers  for  the  army,  and 
supporting  their  families  in  their  absence,  having  been 
reduced  to  the  necessity  of  selling  real  estate  and  hir- 
ing money  for  that  purpose.  They  retained  neverthe- 
less the  true  and  inflexible  principles  of  patriotism,  still 
resolved  to  defend  the  noble  fabric  which  our  fathers 
reared,  and  that  if  the  star  of  their  country's  glory 
-must  set,  its  setting  should  be  marked  with  the  aveng- 
ing hand  of  the  oppressed.  The  inhabitants  were  di- 
vided into  classes  ;  each  class  w^as  required  to  furnish 
one  able-bodied  man,  to  serve  for  a  specified  term  in 
the  continental  army.  The  demand  for  such  service^ 
besides  the  common  bounty  allowed  by  congress,  was 
very  exorbitant,  and  on  some  occasions  it  was  stipulated 
that  the  compensation  should  be  paid  in  silver  money  ; 
the  paper  currency  had  become  so  depreciated  that  no 
rcnfidence  could  be  placed  in  its  value.  At  one  period, 
a  silver  dollar  would  purchase  one  hundred  in  paper. 
A  farmer  in  a  neighboring  town  sold  a  co.v  in  the  spring 
for  forty  dollars,  and  in  the  next  autumn  he  paid  the 
whole  sum  for  a  goose  for  a  thanksgiving  dinner. 

The  whole  Plymouth  Bay  and  harbor  were  almost 
constantly  infested  with  small  picaroons,  called  ^  shaving 
mills.^  One  of  these  approached  the  shore  at  Manomet 
Ponds,  on  a  Sunday,  by  which  the  town  was  so  much 
alarmed  that  a  company  of  militia,  with  a  piece  of 
cannon,  marched  to  that  place  for  the  protection  of 
the  inhabitants,  and  on  this  occasion,  as  well  as  on 
several  others,  the  people  in  that  parish  carried  their 
iire-arms  into  the  meeting  house  on  the  sabbath  to  be 
prepared  for  defence,  and  were  firmly  determined  to 
resist  to  the  uttermost  every  attack. 

1781. — The  town  was  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  re- 
monstrating to  the  general  court,  that,  from  the  many  pe- 
culiar  difficulties  which  they  labored  under,  by  reason  of 
the  war  they  were  unable  to  pay  the  taxes,  and  to  pro- 
cure the  soldiers  clothing  and  provisions  required  of 
them,  and  praying  for  an  abatement  or  remission  oftlie 


220  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1783 

same.  The  town  voted  to  instruct  their  representative, 
Major  Joshua  Thomas,  to  use  his  influence  that  the 
general  couit  make  apphcation  to  the  congress,  that 
our  commissioners  for  negotiating  a  peace  make  it  an  ar- 
ticle of  indispensable  necessity,  that  the  fishery  be  re- 
stored to  us,  as  being  of  the  greatest  importance  to  the 
town,  having  hitherto  depended  on  it  for  support. 

1782. — Capt.  Horatio  Nelson,  afterwards  Lord  Nel- 
son, commander  of  the  British  ship,  the  Albemarle, 
having  taken  a  small  schooner  of  35  tons,  in  the  bay, 
belonging  to  Plymouth,  afirer  she  had  been  used  as  a 
tender  for  some  days,  Capt.  Thomas  Davis,  of  this 
town,  owner  of  the  vessel,  encouraged  by  the  repre- 
sentations given  by  Nathaniel  Carver,  master  of  the 
vessel,  (who  with  the  crew  had  been  liberated,)  of  the 
character  and  deportment  of  Captain  Nelson,  went  on 
board,  Captain  Carver  Jiccompanying  him.  Some  veg- 
etables and  fruit,  which  had  been  hastily  collected  af- 
ter the  frigate  appeared  in  view  of  the  town,  were  pre- 
sented, and  the  vessel  was  generously  restored,  and  a 
certificate  was  given  by  Captain  Nelson  thai  she  was 
released.  Wc  honor  the  noble  spirited  hero  who  dis- 
plays the  qualities  of  humanity  and  benevolence. 

1783. — This  year  is  remarkable  for  a  happy  termina- 
tion of  the  horrors  of  war,  which  had  for  eight  years 
been  an  awful  scourge  to  our  country. 

Through  the  goodness  of  Divine  Providence,  liberty 
and  independence  were  obtained,  and  no  one  of  the 
present  age,  or  of  future  generations  can  lament  the  im- 
mense sacrifices  which  were  made  in  the  holy  cause. 
From  this  era,  the  United  Stales  of  America  claim  ex- 
istence among  the  nations  of  the  world,  and  no  people 
ever  advanced  witli  more  rapid  strides  to  pre-eminence 
in  national  glory  and  importance. 

On  the  first  of  January  this  year,  the  present  author 
having  terminated  his  services  of  seven  and  a  half  years 
in  the  American  army,  became  a  private  citizen,  and 
in  March  following  commenced  his  professional  career 


1786]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH,  221 

in  the  town  of  Plymouth.  After  having  suffered  the 
ravages  and  privations  incident  to  a  war  of  eight  years 
continuance,  the  inhabitants  of  this  town,  in  common 
with  the  general  community,  welcomed  the  return  of 
peace  with  emotions  of  unfeigned  gratitude  and  joy. 
Not  a  few  had  to  lament  the  loss  of  friends;  all  were 
sufferers  in  their  pecuniary  interests,  but  the  mighty 
boon  obtained  was  deemed  more  than  a  sufficient  re- 
muneration for  every  sacrifice  and  privation.  The  town 
was  reduced  to  a  state  of  destitution,  their  navigation 
almost  annihilated,  a  renewal  of  their  former  means  of 
support  was  very  precarious,  and  the  taxes  were  now 
very  heavy. 

1785. — The  town  has  been  called  to  deplore  the 
death  of  an  estimable  fellow-citizen,  Capt.  Thomas  Da- 
vis, who  died  March  7th,  aged  63  years.  He  was  the 
head  of  the  respectable  firm  of  Davis  k,  Spooner,  for 
many  years  noted  for  probity  and  correctness  in  their 
mercantile  transactions,  and  for  integrity  and  benevolence 
of  character.  Capt.  Davis  left  six  sons  and  one  daugh- 
ter;  the  latter,  Sarah,  married  Le  Baron  Bradford,  son 
of  Lieut.  Governor  Bradford,  of  Bristol,  R.  I.  Her 
only  son  Le  Baron,  still  survives.  The  sons  of  Capt. 
Davis  were  Thomas,  (see  page  229  ;)  William,  (page 
270  ;)  John,  now  Judge  of  the  District  Court  in  Boston, 
and  President  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society  ; 
Samuel,  (page  274  ;)  Isaac  and  Wendell ;  the  latter  was 
by  profession  a  lawyer,  and  was  Sheriff  of  the  county 
of  Barnstable,  and  died  at  Sandwich,  183L  His  re- 
mains are  deposited  among  his  relatives  in  our  burial 
ground. 

1786. — This  year  is  memorable  for  an  alarming  in- 
surrection, instigated  by  Daniel  Shays^  which  occasion- 
ed the  greatest  commotion  throughout  the  New  England 
States.  There  were,  in  almost  every  town,  some  who 
encouraged  the  insurgents  ;  but  in  Plymouth,  not  an  in- 
dividual appeared  openly  to  advocate  their  vile  proceed- 
ings. The  town  instructed  its  representative  to  the 
19* 


222  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1789 

general  court,  to  use  his  influence  to  have  suitable  meas- 
ures adopted  for  the  removal  of  all  grievances,  and  to 
quiet  the  minds  of  the  people. 

That  he  oppose  the  emission  of  paper  money,  and 
discourage  the  importation  of  foreign  superfluities,  and 
articles  of  British  manufacture,  he. 

A  detachment  of  the  militia  of  this  town  was  ordered 
to  march  to  Taunton,  to  oppose  the  insurgents  in  their 
audacious  purpose  of  preventing  the  sitting  of  the  court 
of  common  pleas  in  that  place.  General  Nath'l.  Good- 
win marched  at  the  head  of  a  large  detachment  of  mi- 
litia from  this  and  other  towns.  The  writer  of  this  ar- 
ticle accompanied  the  expedition  in  the  capacity  of  sur- 
geon. A  very  formidable  collection  of  .insurgents  made 
their  appearance,  and  arrayed  themselves  in  a  men- 
acing attitude  on  Taunton  Green.  General  David  Cobb, 
judge  of  the  court  at  that  place,  assumed  the  command 
of  the  militia,  and  declared  that  he  would  on  that  day 
'  sit  as  a  judge,  or  die  as  a  general.'  The  result  was 
a  total  dispersion  of  the  insurgents  without  bloodshed. 

Among  the  intrepid  patriots  who  distinguished  them- 
selves In  the  naval  service  during  our  revolutionary 
contest,  was  Simeon  Sampson,  Esq.  '  He  was  born  in 
Kingston  In  the  year  1736.  In  youth  he  began  a  sea- 
faring life,  and  performed  many  important  voyages  in 
the  employment  of  the  merchants  of  Plymouth.  In  the 
year  17G2,  Mr.  Sampson  was  taken  prisoner  by  the 
French,  in  a  vessel  belonging  to  Goodwin  &  Warren, 
which  was  redeemed  by  the  captain  for  a  large  sum  of 
money,  and  Mr.  Sampson  was  left  as  a  hostage  for  the 
payment  of  the  ransom.  From  this  imprisonment  he 
escaped  by  assuming  the  dress  of  a  female,  and  was 
soon  restored  to  his  family  In  Plymouth. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  revolutionary  war, 
when  a  marine  force  was  deemed  necessary  to  protect 
our  commerce  from  the  depredations  of  the  British 
cruisers ;  he  was  honored  by  the  Provincial  Congress 
of  Massachusetts  with  the  appointment  of  the  first  naval 


1789]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  223 

captain  in  the  service  of  the  country.  He  immediate- 
Jy  took  the  command  of  the  brig  Independence,  be- 
longing to  the  colony,  and  which  was  built  at  Kingston, 
under  his  direction.  In  this  vessel,  J3  w^as  eminently 
successful,  and  in  one  cruise  captured  and  sent  in  five 
prizeSj  among  which  was  the  Roebuck,  Captain  White, 
in  the  autumn  of  the  year  1776.  Immediately  after 
this,  he  himself  was  captured  by  Capt.  Dawson,  of  dis- 
tinguished memory  in  these  seas.  Capt.  Sampson  did 
not  surrender,  until  after  an  engagement  of  as  severe 
and  bloody  character  perhaps  as  is  recorded  in  the  an- 
nals of  naval  warfare.  The  skill  and  intrepidity  mani- 
fested by  him  was  applauded  even  by  his  enemies. 
Had  he  been  sustained  by  all  his  men,  he  would  un- 
doubtedly have  been  the  conqueror,  rather  than  the 
vanquished.  It  is  said  in  the  gazette  of  that  period,  that 
he  was  driven  to  the  awful  necessity  of  running  through 
the  body  two  or  three  of  his  men,  who  abandoned  their 
guns  in  the  most  trying  moment  of  the  conflict.  One 
of  these  victims  was  his  third  lieutenant.  Soon  after 
his  return  from  captivity,  which  was  at  Fort  Cumber- 
land, near  Halifax,  he  was  appointed  commander  of  the 
brig  Hazard,  a  public  vessel  belonging  to  the  state. 
In  this  vessel  he  likewise  took  several  prizes,  among 
which  was  the  ship  Live  Oak.  In  1779  he  was  select- 
ed to  the  command  of  the  packet  ship  Mercury,  built 
at  Plymouth,  by  Mr.  John  Peck,  for  Congress.  She 
was  employed  to  carry  dispatches  to  our  ministers  in 
France.  In  this  ship  he  returned  from  Nantz  during  the 
severe  winter  of  1780.  Soon  after  which  he  was  pro- 
moted to  the  command  of  the  Mars,  a  larger  ship,  like- 
wise belonging  to  the  state,  and  in  this  vessel  he  was 
employed  in  the  most  responsible  trust,  in  carrying  dis- 
patches, and  in  one  cruise  carried  out  one  of  our  minis- 
ters to  Europe.  The  British  flagship  Trial  was  captur- 
ed by  him  while  in  the  Wars.  At  the  close  of  the  war, 
he  retired  like  most  of  the  faithful  servants  of  our  coun- 


224  HISTORY   OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1793 

try,  with  a  very  scanty  estate,  and  a  numerous  family 
dependent  upon  him  lor  support. 

In  1788,  Capt.  Sampson  disposed  of  his  mansion  in 
Middle  street  in  Plymouth,  and  purchased  a  farm  in 
Plimpton,  where  he  terminated  his  earthly  career  by 
an  apoplexy,  June  22d,  1789,  at  the  age  of  53  years. 
He  was  buried  upon  his  own  farm,  and  afterwards  his 
body  was  removed  to  the  burying  hill  in  Plymouth, 
where  his  grave  is  marked  by  an  appropriate  head 
stone. 

Few  naval  officers  stood  higher  in  public  estima- 
tion, few  citizens  more  respected  for  domestic  virtues, 
hospitality  and  generous  friendship. 

In  1759,  Capt.  Sampson  married  Deborah  Gushing, 
daughter  of  Seth  Gushing,  of  Hingham,  who  survived 
him  many  years.  She  died  at  Homer,  New  York,  in 
1830,  at  the  advanced  age  of  90  years. 

The  ancestors  of  Gapt.  Sampson  will  be  found  among 
those  who  were  distinguished  in  the  Old  Golony.  His 
father  was  Peleg  Sampson,  a  principal  owner  of  the 
iron  works  at  Middleborough,  which  were  suppressed 
by  the  Grown.  He  was  born  in  1700,  was  a  son  of 
Isaac  Sampson,  who  was  born  in  1660,  and  died  in 
1726.  He  married  Lydia  Standish,  daughter  of  Al- 
exander, and  grand-daughter  of  Gapt.  Miles  Standish 
and  John  Alden,  two  of  the  Mayflower  pilgrims.  The 
descendants  of  Gapt.  Sampson  are  not  numerous.  He 
left  5  children.  1.  Lydia,  the  wife  of  William  Good- 
win who  died  l1\5.  2.  Deborah,  the  wife  of  Rev.  E. 
Briggs,  and  now  the  widow  Goodwin.  3.  Mercy,  wife 
of  Major  Levi  Bradford.  4.  George  W.  Sampson,  and 
5.  Maria,  wife  of  Rev.  Mr.  Johnson.  The  four  last  still 
survive,  and  reside  with  their  families,  in  the  western 
part  of  the  state  of  New  York. '  J.  G. 

1793. — The  inhabitants  of  this  town  celebrated  the 
victories  of  the  French  Republic  over  their  invaders  by 
a  grand  civic  festival.     An   animating  address  was  de- 


1800]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  '225 

livered  on  the  occasion  by  Rev.  Dr.  C.  Robbins  which 
was  published. 

This  year  the  town  acted  in  accordance  with  the 
town  of  Boston,  respecting  the  measures  of  neutrality, 
as  recommended  by  President  Washington. 

1794. — Mrs.  Elizabeth  Russell,  the  lady  of  Hon. 
Thomas  Russell,  merchant  of  Boston,  presented  a  bell 
to  the  town  of  Plymouth,  the  place  of  her  nativity ; 
on  which  occasion  a  vote  of  thanks  was  passed,  and 
presented  in  very  handsome  terms.  This  bell  was  im- 
ported from  England,  was  finely  toned,  and  weighed 
about  five  hundred  and  sixty-four  pounds.  It  was  un- 
fortunately broken  in  the  year  1801,  when  another 
was  presented  to  the  town,  of  Col.  Revere's  manufac- 
ture, weighing  about  eight  hundred  pounds,  which  is 
still  in  use.  The  first  notice  of  a  bell  in  Plymouth  is 
in  1679,  probably  the  first  used  in  New  England. 

In  1799  a  singular  accident  occurred  in  town,  which 
gave  me  considerable  employment.  The  frame  of  a 
house  belonging  to  Capt.  John  Paty  was  erected,  two 
stories  high  in  front  and  three  back,  the  ground  falling 
away  considerably  in  the  rear.  When  the  frame  was 
put  together,  and  from  thirty  to  forty  men  were,  most 
of  them,  on  the  highest  floor  and  the  roof,  from  some 
cause  the  whole  frame  fell  to  the  ground  on  the  lower 
side.  This  accident  might  have  been  fatal  to  numbers 
but  it  is  remarkahle  that  no  one  was  killed,  and  but 
one  bone  fractured  ;  twenty-one  were  wounded,  more 
or  less  severely,  but  all  recovered. 

1800.  Death  of  Washington. — The  reader  may 
here  be  reminded  that  on  the  14th  December,  1799  the 
illustrious  and  beloved  Washington  paid  the  debt  of 
nature,  and  that,  throughout  the  United  States,  all  class- 
es of  people  mourned  the  event,  as  a  great  national 
calamity.  It  was  recommended  by  the  public  authori- 
ties that  the22d  February,  1800,  his  birth  day,  be  con- 
secrated, by  the  whole  community  to  the  remembrance 
of  the  saviour  of  our  country.    Our  town  authorities  di- 


226  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [ISOO 

reeled  the  appropriate  arrangements.  All  business  was 
suspended,  stores  and  shops  were  closed,  the  shipping 
in  the  harbor  displayed  emblems  of  mourning,  divine 
service  was  performed  in  the  sanctuary,  where  Rev. 
Mr.  Kendall  delivered  a  well-adapted  sermon,  which 
was  published.  Grief  and  sorrow  were  depicted  on 
every  countenance,  and  the  whole  people  appeared 
unitedly,  as  one  family,  bewailing  the  death  of  its  com- 
mon father. 

December  13. — Died  in  this  town,  Col.  George  Wat- 
son. 'The  lives  and  deaths  of  but  few  men  are  more 
truly  enviable  than  Col.  Watson's.  By  an  uniform  dig- 
nity of  manners,  and  uprightness  of  conduct,  he  pre- 
served the  respectability  of  his  family,  unsullied  to  the 
grave.  From  early  life  he  entertained  an  invincible  ab- 
horrence of  these  excesses,  which,  while  they  enfeeble 
the  constitution,  make  destructive  inroads  in  the  order 
of  families,  and  harmony  of  society.  In  the  meridian 
of  his  days  and  amidst  the  multifarious  concerns  and 
solicitudes  of  commercial  business,  he  formed  a  just  es- 
timate of  the  scenes  fleeting  before  him,  and  looked 
forward  to  an  inheritance  eternal  in  the  heavens.  Be- 
coming a  member  of  the  most  ancient  church  of  Christ 
in  New  England,  he  w^as  exemplary  in  his  observance 
of  all  the  institutions  of  its  primitive  founders.  Blessed 
with  affluence,  he  was  always  ready  to  indulge  the  be- 
nevolent propensities  of  his  nature  in  affording  relief  to 
the  indigent  and  necessitous.  But  the  best  eulogy  is  the 
spontaneous  tribute  of  respect  paid  to  his  remains  by 
the  inhabitants  of  Plymouth,  at  a  town  meeting  conven- 
ed in  consequence  of  his  death,  and  is  as  follows : — 

Decembef^. — At  a  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  town,  the  following  vote  was  passed  :  Whereas,  it  has 
pleased  the  sovereign  Disposer  of  all  events  to  remove 
from  us,  by  death,  our  beloved  fellow  citizen  and  fel- 
low townsman,  George  Watson,  Esq.,  w^ho  from  his  un- 
bending rectitude  and  conscientious  punctuality  as  a 
merchant,  from  his  liberal  hospitality  and  diffusive  be- 


1800]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  227 

nevolence  as  a  man,  from  the  graces  of  his  behavior, 
as  a  gentleman,  and  from  the  lustre  of  his  example  as 
a  christian,  displayed  with  undeviating  constancy  in  a 
long  life,  was  justly  held  in  the  most  respectful  estima- 
tion by  an  extensive  circle  of  friends,  and  by  all  class- 
es of  his  fellow  men.  while  his  amiable  partialities  for 
his  native  town,  the  persevering  assiduity  with  which 
he  discharged  its  most  important  public  offices,  and  the 
deep  interest  he  invariably  took  in  its  happiness  and 
prosperity,  has  engraven  his  name  in  the  affections  of 
its  inhabitants,  in  characters  that  no  time  can  efface. 
Prompted  by  their  high  sensibility  to  exhibit  on  this 
melancholy  occasion  every  testimonial  of  respect  for 
the  venerable  dead,  and  as  an  incitement  to  the  imita- 
tion of  such  pre-eminent  virtues, — Voted,  1.  That  on 
the  day  of  the  interment  of  George  Watson,  Esq.,  the 
selectmen  be  requested  to  direct  the  sexton  to  toll  the 
bell,  commencing  at  sunrise  and  continue  three  hours. 
2.  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  inhabitants  to  sus- 
pend their  usual  business  in  the  streets,  by  shutting  up 
their  shops,  stores,  he.  from  two  o'clock,  P.  M.  till  the 
funeral  is  over.  3.  That  it  be  recommended  to  the 
owners  of  shipping  in  the  harbor  to  place  their  flags 
half  mast  high,  in  token  of  mourning  during  the  day 
of  interment. 

The  lamented  subject  of  the  above  eulogium  was  of 
an  ancient  and  honorable  family  ;  he  died  at  the  ad- 
vanced age  of  83  years.  Rev.  Mr.  Kendall  preached  a 
sermon  on  occasion  of  his  death,  which  was  printed. 

Tn  person.  Col.  Watson  was  portly  and  well  propor- 
tioned, his  countenance  noble  and  placid,  and  his  whole 
mien  truly  dignified.  His  urbanity  and  courtesy  will 
long  be  remembered  by  all  who  enjoyed  his  acquaint- 
ance. He  owned,  and  resided  in  the  house  on  the 
south  side  of  North  street,  now  belonging  to  Mr.  Abra- 
ham Jackson.  The  beautiful  range  of  linden  trees  in 
front  and  rear  of  his  house,  he  cultivated  with  peculiar 
pleasure,  and  delighted  himself  under  their  refreshing 
shade. 


228  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1800 

His  children  were  three  daughters.  Mary  married 
Elisha  Hutchinson.  Esq.,  son  of  the  governor,  and  died 
in  England  before  her  lather.  Sarah,  who  still  survives 
in  Boston,  married  Martin  Brimmer,  Esq.,  Elizabeth 
married  Hon.  Thomas  Russell,  Esq.,  merchant  in  Bos- 
ton. After  his  decease  she  married  Sir  Grenville 
Temple,  and  died  at  Rome  about  1806,  leaving  three 
children. 

1802. — William  Thomas,  a  physician  of  extensive 
practice  in  Plymouth  for  more  than  half  a  century, 
was  born  in  Boston  in  the  year  1718,  and  died  in  1802. 
He  was  a  descendant  in  the  sixth  generation  from  Wm. 
Thomas,  of  Welsh  extract,  who  arrived  in  the  colony, 
and  settled  in  Marshfield  about  1630.  He  was  in  the 
medical  staff  in  the  hazardous  and  successful  enter- 
prise against  Louisburg  in  1745,  and  at  Crown  Point 
in  1758.  Dr.  Thomas  took  a  very  zealous  part  in  the 
disputes  with  the  mother  country,  that  issued  finally  in 
independence.  After  the  first  blow  was  struck  in  the 
battle  of  Lexington,  in  1775,  he  immediately  joined 
himself  and  his  family,  consisting  of  four  sons,  viz. 
Joshua,  Joseph,  John  and  Nathaniel,  to  the  first  form- 
ed revolutionary  corps.  The  first  named  of  the  sons 
was  aid  de  camp  to  Gen.  Thomas,  in  the  expedition  to 
Canada  in  1776,  and  after  the  peace  judge  of  pro- 
bate for  the  county  of  Plymouth.  Joseph  and  John 
continued  in  the  service  during  the  war,  the  first,  captain 
of  artillery,  and  the  last  in  the  medical  staff.  On  the 
peace,  John  established  himself  at  Poughkeepsie,  in  the 
state  of  New  York,  in  the  practice  of  his  profession, 
and  died  in  1818,  leaving  a  son  and  daughter.  The 
other  sons  were  setded  in  Plymouth — beside  these 
there  was  a  daughter,  who  married  a  gendeman  by  the 
name  of  Brick,  and  setded  in  Charlestown,  N.  Hamp- 
shire. Dr.  Wm.  Thomas  was  thrice  married.  The 
children  named  above  were  by  the  second  wife,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Bridgham. 

December  22. — This  anniversary  of  the  landing  of 


1805]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  229 

eur  Pilgrim  fathers  on  our  shore  was  celebrated  in  ap- 
propriate style,  by  an  oration  by  Hon.  John  Quincy 
Adams,  Esq.  The  interesting  occasion  and  the  celeb- 
rity of  the  orator  drew  together  an  immense  assem- 
bly. The  firing  of  cannon  and  the  military  parade  pre- 
ceded the  assembling  of  the  people.  The  oration  by 
Mr.  Adams  was  a  masterly  piece  of  composition,  rarely- 
exceeded,  and  the  eloquence  displayed  by  the  speaker 
impressed  the  audience  with  sensations  of  delight. 
An  elegant  public  dinner  was  provided,  and  was  follow- 
ed by  songs  and  toasts,  and  a  ball  closed  the  evening. 

1803. — A  committee  was  chosen  by  the  town  to 
inquire  into  the  circunistances  of  the  Indian  lands  ia 
this  town.  They  reported  that  the  number  of  acres  is 
2,633,  valued  at  $14,140.  The  number  of  Indians 
in  town  were  fourteen  males  and  thirty-five  females, 
with  about  1  5  children  under  age.  This  land  lies  on 
the  borders  of  Sandwich,  at  a  place  called  Herring 
Pond. 

1805. — The  ship  Ilibernia,  Captain  Andrew  Farral, 
owner  and  commander,  was  wrecked  on  our  beach 
January  28th.  She  sailed  from  Boston  on  the  26th 
instant,  and  being  overtaken  by  a  violent  cold  storm, 
was  driven  on  the  beach  in  the  night.  The  Captain 
and  five  of  the  seven  seamen  perished,  and  were  bu- 
ried together  on  our  burial  hill,  where  a  stone  is  erect- 
ed with  a  suitable  inscription.  Captain  Farrall  was 
aged  38  years,  and  was  of  respectable  connexions  in 
Ireland. 

January  21s^. — Died  in  Boston  Hon.  Thomas 
Davis,  Esq.  He  was  born  in  Plymouth,  1756,  and 
was  the  son  of  Captain  Thomas  Davis.  He  received 
a  good  school  education,  which  he  completed  under 
Alexander  Scammell.  Under  this  gentleman  he  not 
only  acquired  the  rudiments  of  useful  knowledge,  but 
formed  those  habits  of  method,  reflection  and  perseve- 
rance which  marked  his  future  life.  Destined  for 
commerce,  while  a  youth,  important  concerns  devolv- 
20 


230  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1805 

ed  upon  him,  in  whose  management  he  discovered  that 
intelligence,  integrity  and  assiduity,  which  promised 
and  secured  success  in  enterprise.  He  mingled  with 
the  engagements  of  his  busy  avocation,  inquiries  into 
practical  science,  Snd  became  well  versed  in  the 
history  and  principles  of  commerce,  and  the  sound 
maxims  and  rational  theories  of  government.  The 
derangement  of  the  municipal  concerns  of  his  native 
town,  first  induced  him  to  engage  in  public  affairs. 
Impoverished  by  the  war,  and  embarrassed  by  the  per- 
plexities which  as  often  resuh  from  futile  expedients 
as  real  distress,  it  required  an  intelligent,  active,  and 
persevering  mind,  to  restore  harmony,  hope  and  enter- 
prise. Mr.  Davis  effected  it  by  his  natural  arrange- 
ments. He  insisted  on  simplicity,  order  and  punctu- 
ality. The  result  was  credit  and  prosperity.  His 
exertions  and  success  acquired  him  the  confidence  of 
his  townsmen,  and  produced  an  attachment  which  has 
ever  been  reciprocated.  At  an  early  age  he  was 
elected  a  representative  of  his  native  town  to  the  gen- 
eral court,  and  for  many  years  was  continued  in  that 
station.  From  this  period  his  whole  life  has  been  de- 
voted to  public  concerns.  In  1789,  he  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Convention  to  decide  on  the  Federal  Con- 
stitution. In  1792,  he  was  elected  a  senator  of  this 
Commonwealth,  by  the  county  of  Plymouth,  and  the 
same  year  w^as  chosen  the  treasurer  of  the  state,  in 
which  office  he  was  continued  during  the  constitution- 
al term.  On  retiring  fiom  the  treasury,  he  was  twice 
elected  a  senator  for  the  county  of  Suffolk,  when  he 
was  unanimously  chosen  the  first  president  of  the 
Boston  Marine  Insurance  Company,  in  1799,  which 
office  he  held  until  his  death.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  Humane  Society  and  the  Boston  Dispensary. 
He  declined  also  many  honorary  and  responsible 
stations,  from  those  principles  which  induced  his  ac- 
ceptance of  others.  Always  in  public  life,  Mr.  Davis 
retired  from  the  notoriety  of  a  public  character.     He 


1805]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  231 

did  not  take   the  post  of  honor  for  public  observation, 
but  for  the  public  good. 

The  treasury  of  the  Commonwealth,  at  the  time  of 
the  appointment  of  Mr.  Davis  to  its  direction,  owing 
to  our  state  debt,  the  emission  of  paper,  our  national 
depression  after  the  peace,  and  the  deficits  in  the  col- 
lectors, was  in  a  most  chaotic  state.  The  importance 
of  public  credit  to  our  peace,  honor,  and  prosperity, 
induced  him  to  undertake  the  arduous  task  of  bringing 
order  out  of  confusion.  His  comprehensive  mind 
embraced  the  whole  extent  of  national  obligation  and 
national  resource.  Our  debt  was  funded  on  his  sys- 
tem, in  which  there  are  some  of  the  peculiarities  of 
genius  which  knows  how  to  apply  general  principles 
with  their  exceptions.  A  sinking  fund  was  establish- 
ed for  its  gradual  discharge,  which  has  been  successful 
in  its  operations.  A  methodical  arrangement  was 
adopted  in  the  treasury,  and  a  strict  punctuality  faithfully 
observed  and  rigidly  exacted.  Our  credit  revived,  our 
finances  proved  adequate  ti;  our  demands,  which  in 
the  infancy  of  a  civil  establishment  is  not  always  pro- 
portionate to  its  ability  ;  and  at  the  close  of  Mr. 
Davis's  constitutional  term,  his  report  of  the  state  of 
the  treasury  secured  him  the  thanks  and  approbation 
of  those  who  best  knew  the  extent  of  his  services, 
while  his  successors  by  pursuing  his  plans,  afford 
additional  evidence  of  their  excellence. 

As  President  of  the  Boston  Marine  Insurance  Com- 
pany he  displayed  the  whole  of  his  character.  His 
prudence  and  judgment  in  the  investment  of  their  cap- 
ital, his  knowledge  of  the  principles  which  applied  to 
his  office,  and  his  justice  and  liberality  in  the  adjust- 
ment of  controversies,  rendered  him  a  director,  coun- 
sellor and  judge.  As  an  evidence  of  almost  unexam- 
pled confidence  in  his  judgpient  and  integrity,  notwith- 
standing his  interest  in  this  corporation,  most  of  the 
disputes  that  originated  in  the  office  were  referred  to 
his  sole  decision.     He  exerted  here  his  usual  assiduity, 


232  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1806 

investigation  and  perseverance,  and  from  a  studious 
inquiry  into  the  laws  of  insurance  in  all  countries  and 
ages,  his  opinions  on  this  most  intricate  and  perplexing 
branch  of  jurisprudence  were  respected,  not  only  by 
the  mercantile  world,  but  by  advocates  of  professional 
eminence. 

His  intellectual  and  moral  character  was  endeared 
by  his  social  and  generous  feelings.  Through  the  si- 
lence of  thought,  and  the  reserve  of  prudence,  were 
visible  the  affections  of  his  soul ;  and  the  irrefragable 
evidence  of  his  amiable  and  friendly  disposition  is 
found  in  the  warmest  attachment  of  a  numerous  ac- 
quaintance. His  charity  was  as  diffusive  as  his  mind 
was  active,  and  his  friends  knew  that  he  was  a  man 
who  denied  the  sufferer  '  nothing  but  his  name.* 
When  it  is  added  to  this  that  religion  was  the  base  and 
crown  of  his  virtue,  we  must  readily  admit  that  his 
friends  have  not  been  too  partial,  and  the  world  but 
just  in  their  affection,  confidence  and  praise. 

1806.  December  22. — This  is  the  186th  anniversary 
of  the  first  landing  of  our  puritan  fathers.  The  glori- 
ous day  which  should  be  conamemorated  by  the  latest 
posterity  as  the  day  when  the  civil  and  religious  inde- 
pendence of  our  country  was  germinated,  in  the  exalt- 
ed characters  and  manly  virtues  of  the  passengers  of 
the  Mayflower.  The  inhabitants  of  this  town,  and 
those  from  neighboring  towns  entered  into  the  appro- 
priate religious  solemnities  with  hearts  glowing  with 
gratitude,  to  unite  in  the  merited  tribute  of  respect  to 
our  renowned  sires.  The  discourse  was  delivered  by 
Rev.  Abiel  Holmes,  D.  D.,  of  Cambridge,  from  the 
words,  'Where  are  the  fathers?'  A  discourse  coming 
from  a  learned  divine  whose  soul  is  imbued  with  the 
spirit  of  the  puritans,  was  exceedingly  animating;  in- 
teresting associations  were  revived,  and  a  due  sense 
of  duty  to  God  and  gratitude  to  our  fathers  awakened 
and  illustrated.  A  hymn,  composed  by  Dr.  Holmes 
for  the  occasion,  was  sung  to  the  time  of  Old  Hundred^ 


1808]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  233 

being  read  line  by  line  by  Deacon  Spooner.  The 
services  being  closed,  the  company  retired  to  a  public 
social  festival.  A  respectable  number  of  ladies  of  this 
town,  accompanied  by  strangers,  associated  together  to 
partake  of  a  dinner  prepared  for  them  in  the  hall  over 
the  Plymouth  bank. 

180S. — The  enforcement  of  the  embargo  hw  occa- 
sioned great  suffering  throughout  our  commercial  com- 
munity. Navigation  was  entirely  suspended,  our  har- 
bors were  crowded  with  dismantled  vessels,  and  our 
seamen  w^ere  deprived  of  employment,  and  the  means 
of  supporting  their  families. 

April. — The  town  passed  a  by-law,  as  follows,  that 
if  any  person  should  be  found  smoking  a  cigar  or  pipe 
in  any  of  the  streets,  lanes,  wharves,  yards,  or  barns, 
in  this  town,  he  or  they  shall  forfeit  and  pay  the  sum 
of  $1  for  every  such  offence,  to  be  recovered  by  the 
firewards,  or  any  other  person,  that  shall  prosecute 
and  sue  for  the  same,  before  any  justice  of  the  peace 
for  the  county  of  Plymouth,  to  be  applied  to  the  use 
of  the  poor  of  said  town;  and  that  parents,  and  guar- 
dians, and  masters  of  minors,  shall  be  liable  to  pay  the 
fine  above  said  for  their  children,  wards,  or  appren- 
tices, who  shall  offend  in  this  particular. 

August. — A  meeting  of  the  town  was  called,  by  the 
request  of  163  inhabitants,  to  present  a  petition  to 
president  Jefferson  to  take  off  the  embargo.  It  was 
not  uncommon  to  see  seamen  thronging  the  wharves, 
cursing  the  embargo,  and  the  authors  of  it.  They  pe- 
titioned Mr-  Jefferson  that  it  might  be  taken  off,  if  in 
his  power,  or  that  congress  might  be  called  together 
for  the  purpose.  The  petition  expressed  the  deplora- 
ble situation  to  which  the  town  was  reduced,  deprecat- 
ing the  policy  of  the  measure  and  the  horrid  conse- 
quences of  it,  and  closing  thus  ;-'  Prohibitory  laws  that 
subject  the  citizens  to  grievous  privations  and  suffer- 
ings, the  policy  of  which  is  at  least  questionable,  and 
the  temptations  to  the  violations  of  which  from  the  na- 
20* 


234  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1808 

ture  of  man,  are  almost  irresistible,  will  gradually  un- 
dermine the  morals  of  society,  and  introduce  a  laxity 
of  principle  and  contempt  of  the  laws,  more  to  be  de- 
plored than  even  the  useless  v/aste  of  property. 

From  these,  and  other  weighty  considerations,  your 
memorialists  pray  the  president  wholly  or  partially  to 
suspend  the  embargo  laws,  if  his  powders  are  compe- 
tent to  that  object,  and  if  not,  to  convene  congress  at 
an  early  period  that  an  immediate  repeal  of  them  may 
be  obtained. 

To  the  above  manly  and  decided  petition,  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson returned  an  answer,  the  purport  of  which  is  : 
'  To  have  submitted  our  rightful  commerce  to  prohib- 
tions  and  tributary  exactions  from  others,  would  have 
been  to  surrender  our  independence.  To  resist  them 
by  arms  was  war,  without  consulting  the  state  of  things 
or  the  choice  of  the  nation.  The  alternative  preferred 
by  the  legislature,  of  suspending  a  commerce  placed 
under  such  unexampled  difficulties,  besides  saving  to 
our  citizens  their  ])roperty  and  our  mariners  to  their 
country,  has  the  peculiar  advantage  of  giving  time  to 
the  belligerent  nations  to  revise  a  conduct,  as  contrary 
to  their  interest  as  it  is  to  our  own  riaihts.  In  tlie  event 
of  such  peace,  or  suspension  of  hostilities,  between  the 
belligerent  powers  of  Europe,  or  of  such  change  in  their 
measures  afiecting  neutral  commerce,  as  may  render 
that  of  the  United  States  sufficiendy  safe,  in  the  judg- 
ment of  the  president,  he  is  authorized  to  suspend  the 
embargo  ;  but  no  peace,  or  suspension  of  hostilities, 
no  change  of  measures  afiecting  neutral  commerce,  is 
known  to  have  taken  place.  In  flict,  we  have  no  in- 
formation on  which  prudence  would  undertake  a  hasty 
change  in  our  policy,  even  were  the  authority  of  the 
executive  competent  to  such  a  decision.  I  should  with 
great  willingness  have  executed  the  wish  of  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Plymouth,  had  peace,  or  a  repeal  of  the  ob- 
noxious edicts,  or  other  changes  produced  the  cause 
in  which  alone  the  laws  have  given  me  the  authority, 
and  so  many  motives  of  justice  and  interest  lead  to  such 


1808]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  235 

changes,  that  we  ought  continually  to  expect  them  ;  but 
while  these  edicts  remain,  the  legislature  alone  can  pre- 
scribe the  course  to  be  pursued.' 

July  25. — Died  Isaac  Lothrop,  Esq.,  aged  73  years. 
He  was  born  at  Plymouth,  December  11,  1736,  and 
was  the  eldest  of  five  children  of  Isaac  Lothrop,  Esq. 
mentioned  in  page  175.  He  was  educated  a  mer- 
chant, but  from  the  year  1778  he  confined  himself  to 
his  official  duties  as  register  of  probate  for  the  coun- 
ty, which  office  he  retained  till  his  death.  The  un- 
bending uprightness  that  marked  his  conduct  in  this 
office,  the  ability  and  gentlemanly  manner  with  which 
he  discharged  the  duties  of  it,  will  long  be  remember- 
ed with  affectionate  respect.  He  cherished  with  live- 
ly ardor  a  natural  fondness  for  antiquity  ;  and  so  exalt- 
ed was  his  veneration  for  the  pious  planters  in  New 
England,  who  first  landed  in  this  town,  that  he  delight- 
ed in  tracing  their  every  footstep,  and  the  minutest  cir- 
cumstances of  their  history  were  treasured  in  his  mind. 
Hence,  soon  after  the  institution  of  the  Historical  So- 
ciety, he  was  elected  a  member,  and  among  the  earliest 
members  of  the  Humane  Society  he  enrolled  his  name. 
In  his  friendships  he  was  steady,  ardent,  sincere ;  un- 
disguised in  his  feelings,  and  removed  from  the  least 
tincture  of  duplicity,  his  bosom  was  the  sacred  deposi- 
tory of  confidential  intercourse.  If  his  prejudices  were 
strong,  they  were  invariably  pointed  at  what  he  devout- 
ly believed  to  be  profligacy  in  principle,  or  dishonesty 
in  practice.  Such  in  fine  was  Mr.  Lothrop's  scrupu-... 
lous  integrity,  such  his  thorough  detestation  of  every 
species  of  iniquitous,  or  even  temporising  procedure, 
that  the  inscription  on  the  tombstone  of  his  beloved 
father,  would  be  an  appropriate  one  for  his  own.  (See 
page  175.) 

Hon.  James  Warren. — This  gentleman,  a  lineal  de- 
scendant of  Richard  Warren,  who  came  over  in  the 
Mayflower,  was  born  in  Plymouth  in  the  year  1726, 
and  was  the  son  of  James  Warren,  who  held  the  office 


236  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1808 

of  slicrifrof  the  county  of  Plymouth,  under  the  royal 
government.  Havinj;  graduated  at  Harvard  college, 
in  1745,  he  dirccled  his  altciition  to  commercial  allairs, 
and  became  a  respectahlu  mcrchaMl  ;  alter  i\w  death 
of  his  father,  who  Icl't  him  a  handsome  estate,  he 
was  appointed  to  the  oflice  of  sluMilf,  which  he 
retained  until  the  commencement  of  the  war  with 
Great  l^ritain.  In  May,  17G0,  lie  was  chosen  a 
memher  of  the  gencrarcourt  from  Plymouth,  and  he 
uniformly  su|)portcd  (he  rights  of  his  country  against  the 
pretensions  of  parhament.  His  education,  abilities, 
and  integrity,  eminently  (jualilied  him  to  stand  forth  at  a 
crisis,  when  talent,  principle,  and  energy  were  recjuired 
to  devise  and  execute  measures  of  resistance  with  unsha- 
ken firnniess.  He  has  the  reputation  of  originating,  in 
conjunction  with  Samuel  Adams,  the  plan  of  coni- 
mittecs  of  safety  and  correspondence  in  the  vari- 
ous towns  and  counties,  in  the  year  177-'{;  and 
he  was  himself,  that  year  chosen  a  memher  of  this 
committee  in  liis  native  town.*  He  was,  in  1775, 
chosen  a  member  of  the  provincial  congress,  and, 
immediately  alter  the  death  of  Gen.  Joseph  War- 
ren, he  was  appointed  his  successor,  as  president 
of  that  honorable  body.  While  the  army  lay  at 
C'anjbridge,  in  1775,  he  was  made  paymaster  general, 
but  in  the  following  year,  when  the  troops  marched  to 
New  York,  he  resigned.  In  177(),  he  was  appointed 
Major  General  of  the  militia  of  Massachusetts,  but 
never  acted  in  that  capacity.  After  the  formation  of 
the  constitution  of  this  stale;,  he  was,  for  many  years, 
speaker   of  the    house  of  representatives.       He    was 

*  In  rof;artl  to  tlio  parti(ri|)alion  of  fieii.  W'.UTon  in  ori(2;in;iiing 
the  system  of  comniiKoes  ol'  safety  and  corrcspontlonco,  as  rchitctl 
in  till)  liistoi'u's  of  (tu!  war,  l»y  |)i>tli  Dr.  (Jonlon  and  Mrs.  Waircn, 
and  copied  into  Marsliall's  liile  of  Washington,  tlie  fact  is  denied 
by  Saiiiuel  A.  Wells,  l']s(|.  lie  asserts  that,  troin  (he  most  lh(>rou<;h 
investif;a(ii)n  he  has  aseiM  tained  that  (Jeoeial  WaritMi  had  no  share 
whatever  in  ori^inatinf;  those  eommiUees  ;  hot  thai  Samuel  Adauiw 
Was  the  original  proposur,  and  is  ulonu  entitled  to  thu  honors. 


1808]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  237 

elected  lieiit.  e;ovemor  under  Plancock,  in  1780,  })iit 
declined  the  oflicc,  as  he  did,  also,  that  of  judge  of  the 
supreme  court,  to  which  he  had  been  appointed.  He 
accepted,  however,  from  congress,  the  appointment  of 
commissioner  of  the  navy  hoard,  at  that  time  an  ardu- 
ous and  rcsponsijjle  oflice,  in  which  he  served  for  some 
time.  During  the  whole  course  of  the  revolution,  he 
possessed,  in  a  high  degree,  the  confidence,  not  only 
of  his  fellow  citizens  in  his  native  town,  but,  also,  of 
many  distinguished  members  of  congress  and  other 
public  agents,  by  whom  he  was  habitually  consulted, 
and  his  oj)inions  treated  with  great  respect.  His  cor- 
respondence was  extensive,  and  much  of  it,  we  believe 
is  still  preserved. 

At  the  close  of  the  war.  General  Warren  retired  from 
public  employment  to  enjoy  domestic  ease  and  leisure, 
and  d(3votc(l  the  remainder  of  his  life  principally  to 
agriculiural  improvements  on  hi  farm,  and  to  tlie  culti- 
vation of  the  virtues  best  becoming  an  exemplary  and 
respected  private  citizen.  He  was  drawn  from  his  re- 
tlroment,  howc\cr,  for  a  short  period,  to  accept  a  seat 
in  the  council,  and  agaifi,  in  1804,wlien  he  performed 
the  last  act  of  his  long  labors  for  the  public,  in  the  dis- 
charge of  the  duty  of  an  elector  of  president,  giving  his 
vote  lor  Mr.  .leiFerson. 

General  Warren  resided,  for  some  some  years  during 
the  war,  at  the  splendid  seat  at  Milton,  formerly  be- 
longing to  Governor  Hutchinson,*  but  returned  to  his 
former  mansion  in  I*lymouth,  at  the  corner  of  North 
street,  where  he  died,  November  28th,  1808,  aged 
eiglity-two  years,  venerable  from  his  age,  and  die  val- 
uable services  rendered  to  his  country  in  the  darkest 
and  most  trying  periods  of  its  history. 

General  Wnrren  married  the  daughter  of  the  Hon. 
James  Otis,  of  l^arnstahle,  and  sister  to  the  celebrated 
patriot  and   orator  of  that  name.     This  lady  was  the 

*  The  famous  Hutchinson  letters  were  carried  to  Gcnery.l  War- 
ren's house,  and  read  coiitidentially,  belorc  ihcy  were  published. 


238  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [ISlS 

author  of  a  history  of  the  war,  and  was,  with  her  hus- 
band, a  strenuous  advocate  of  the  principles  of  the  re- 
volution, and,  subsequently,  of  the  Jefferson  adminis- 
tration and  politics.  She  survived  her  husband  about 
six  years,  and  died  in  1814,  at  the  age  of  eighty-six. 

They  left  two  sons,  James,  who  was,  for  several 
years,  postmaster  here,  and  Henry,  who,  for  many 
years,  held  the  office  of  collector  for  the  district  of 
Plymouth,  and  died  July  6th,  1828,  aged  sixty-four 
years.  This  gentleman  will  long  be  remembered  for 
his  social  qualities,  his  hospitality,  and  his  gentlemanly 
deportment. 

1809. — The  town  voted  to  petition  the  state  legisla- 
ture, that  they  devise  and  pursue  such  measures  as 
their  judgment  shall  dictate,  to  relieve  the  people  from 
the  severe  pressure  under  which  they  are  suffering 
from  the  embargo  laws. 

1812.  July. — At  a  meeting  of  the  town,  on  ac- 
count of  the  momentous  aspect  of  our  public  affairs, 
occasioned  by  an  impending  war,  particularly  distress- 
ing and  ruinous  to  this  section  of  our  couatry,  voted  to 
memorialize  the  president  on  its  impolicy  and  injus- 
tice, and  to  protest  against  an  alliance  with  despotic 
France,  whose  friendship,  more  than  its  enmity,  has 
been  fatal  to  every  other  republic  on  the  globe. 

The  town  was  unanimous  for  peace  and  not  for  war. 

The  memorial  to  the  president  was  couched  in  re- 
spectful, yet  firm  language,  reprobating  the  whole  sys- 
tem of  commercial  rcttrictions,  by  embargo  and  war, 
as  absolutely  ruinous  to  the  best  interest  of  our  coun- 
try, particularly  the  Eastern  States.  They  entreat  the 
president  to  interpose  his  power  and  influence  to 
rescue  them  from  scenes  of  horror,  from  the  near 
prospects  of  which,  hope,  the  solace  of  the  wretched, 
flies  away,  and  which,  in  their  apprehensions,  will  en- 
danger the  existence  of  the  social  compact ;  praying 
him  to  avert  the  host  of  calamities  that  in  repeated 
succession  must  follow  a  war  with  Great  Britain. 


1813]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  239 

When  hostilities  had  actually  commenced  the  me- 
morial proceeds  to  reprobate  the  measure  in  the  fol- 
lowing strong  language  : — Thus,  Sir,  with  much  brevi- 
ty, but  with  a  frankness  that  the  magnitude  of  the  oc- 
casion demands,  they  have  expressed  their  honest  sen- 
timents upon  the  existing  offensive  war  against  Great 
Britain,  a  war  by  which  their  dearest  interest  as  men 
and  christians  is  deeply  affected,  and  in  which  they  de- 
liberately declare,  as  they  cannot  conscientously,  so 
they  will  not  have  any  voluntary  participation.  They 
make  this  declaration  with  that  paramount  regard  to  their 
civil  and  religious  obligations,  which  becomes  the  dis- 
ciples of  the  Prince  of  Peace,  whose  kingdom  is  not  of 
this  world,  and  before  whose  im])artial  tribunal  presi- 
dents and  kings  will  be  upon  a  level  with  the  meanest 
of  their  fellow  men,  and  will  be  responsible  for  all  the 
blood  they  shed  in  wanton  and  unnecessary  war.  Im- 
pressed with  these  solemn  considerations,  with  an  ar- 
dent love  of  country  and  high  respect  for  the  union  of 
the  states,  your  memorialists  entreat  the  president  im- 
mediately to  begin  the  work  of  peace,  with  that  unaf- 
fected dignity  and  undisguised  sincerity,  which  distin- 
guished one  of  your  illustrious  predecessors,  and  they 
have  the  most  satisfactory  conviction,  that  upright,  sin- 
cere efforts  will  secure  success,  while  the  land  is  un- 
defiled  with  the  blood  of  its  citizens,  and  before  the 
demon  of  slaughter,  thirsting  for  human  victims,  '  cries 
havoc  and  lets  slip  the  dogs  of  war.'  The  town  then 
passed  several  resolves,  expressing,  in  the  most  un- 
equivocal language,  their  disapprobation  of  the  war. 
They  then  passed  a  resolution,  disapproving  of  the 
conduct  of  the  representative  of  the  district  in  con- 
gress, who  advocated  all  the  obnoxious  war  measures, 
and  voted  for  the  war, — which  resolution,  they  voted, 
should  be   sent  to  the  said  representative. 

The  arch  stone  bridge,  over  the  town  brook,  was  this 
year  completed. 

1813. — The  ship  Sally,  belonging  to  Boston,  put 


240  HISTORY   OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1815 

into  this  port  from  Canton,  having,  as  passenger,  a  Chi- 
nese gentleman,  Mr.  Washey.  He  was  a  young  man, 
tall  and  comely,  but  of  dark  complexion,  of  mild  as- 
pect and  pleasing  manners.-  He  attended  public  wor- 
ship on  the  sabbath,  and  being  habited  in  the  costume 
of  his  country,  attracted  great  attention. 

1814. — Being  in  a  state  of  war  with  Great  Britain, 
and  the  harbor  and  town  constantly  exposed  to  the 
attacks  of  British  ships  and  barges,  application  was 
made  to  the  towns  of  Kingston  and  Duxbury  to  unite 
in  measures  of  defence  for  the  harbor,  which  was  com- 
plied with.  A  committee  of  vigilance  and  safety  was 
appointed,  and  a  night  watch  to  patrole  the  streets. 
In  June,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  make  application 
to  the  governor  and  council,  for  a  supply  of  the  mu- 
nitions of  war  adequate  to  the  defence  of  the  town,  and 
such  other  aid  as  may  be  deemed  proper ;  the  request 
was  promptly  complied  whh,  the  necessary  munitions 
were  supplied,  and  a  regiment  of  militia,  under  the 
command  of  Col.  Caleb  Howard,  was  ordered  to  take 
their  station  here  for  our  defence,  which  gave  the  place 
the  aspect  of  a  a  garrison  town,  for  several  months. 

1815. — April  22d,  died  in  this  town  the  Hon.  Wil- 
liam Watson,  Esq.  He  was  born  May  6th,  1730,  and 
graduated  at  Harvard  college,  1751.  This  gentleman 
ranked  himself  among  the  respectable  whigs  and  pa- 
triots of  our  revolution,  and  was  ever  a  zealous  advo- 
cate for  the  rights  and  liberties  of  his  country.  As  a 
professor  of  religion  he  was  exemplary,  giving  punctu- 
al attendance  to  its  ordinances  and  duties.  His  moral 
virtue  and  integrity  were  unquestionable,  and  entitled 
him  to  the  confidence  of  those  authorities  by  whom  he 
was  appointed  to  public  offices.  In  1775,  he  was  ap- 
pointed the  first  postmaster  ever  in  this  town,  by  our 
provincial  congress  ;  and  on  the  2Sth  September,  1782, 
he  was  by  the  general  court  appointed  to  the  office  of 
naval  officer  for  the  port  of  Plymouth.  In  1789,  he 
received  a  commission,  under  the  hand  of  Washington, 


tl8l6]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  241 

as  collector  of  the  port  of  Plymouth,  which  office  he 
sustained  till  1803,  when  he  was  removed  by  the  suc- 
ceeding president.  In  1790,  he  was  appointed,  un- 
der the  authority  of  the  United  States,  Deputy  Post- 
master, to  officiate  as  postmaster  at  Plymouth.  This 
last  commission  was  signed  by  Timothy  Pickering. 
Mr.  Watson's  children  now  living,  are,  Elizabeth,  who 
is  now  the  widow  of  Hon.  Nathaniel  Niles,  and  Ellen, 
the  wife  of  Hon.  John  Davis. 

1816. — The  town  voted  to  employ  Dr.  Sylvanus 
Fancher  to  inoculate  the  inhabitants  with  the  kine  pox, 
at  the  expense  of  the  town,  which  was  done,  and  2,800, 
chiefly  of  the  young  inhabitants,  were  vaccinated. 

May  17. — A  committee,  chosen  by  the  town,  to 
make  inquiry  into  the  conduct  of  retailers  of  spirituous 
liquors,  re[)orts  that  they  are  deeply  impressed  with  the 
magnitude  of  the  evil,  and  with  the  serious  conse- 
quences that  will  probably  result  to  the  rising  genera- 
tion, if  some  seasonable  check  cannot  be  put  to  the 
^practice.  Aware  of  the  odium  that  attaches  itself  to 
those,  who,  from  official  duty  are  led  to  oppose  the 
views  and  emoluments  of  interested  individuals,  we 
would  not  leave  to  the  fathers  of  the  town  to  encounter 
the  hydra  alone ;  we  would,  therefore,  recommend  to 
every  honest,  discreet,  and  sober-minded  inhabitant  of 
the  town,  to  set  his  face  against  the  practice,  as  he 
would  regard  the  interest,  prosperity,  and  comfort  of 
his  fellow  creatures,  and  would  preserve  the  rising  gen- 
eration from  moral  pollution  and  degeneracy,  and  that 
they  would  unite  their  efforts  with  those  of  the  select- 
men and  civil  officers  of  the  town,  to  discountenance 
and  suppress  this  alarming,  this  crying  sin.  They 
would,  also,  recommend,  that  the  selectmen,  overlook- 
ing all  past  trangressions  in  this  respect,  be  enjoined, 
peremptorily  and  perseveringly,  to  withhold  their  ap- 
probation from  any  person,  who  they  shall  hereafter 
know,  or  very  strongly  suspect,  to  be  guilty  ofaviolatioE 
of  the  law. 

21 


242  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1817 

Your  committee  hope  they  shall  be  excused,  if  they 
exceed  the  bounds  of  their  commission,  when  they  ex- 
press their  firm  conviction,  that  a  systematic  persever- 
ance in  discharging  the  painful  duty  of  putting  under 
guardianship  such  citizens  as  are  notoriously  intemper- 
ate, will  be  one  remedy,  among  others,  of  the  evil  in 
question.'     The  report  was  accepted. 

1817.  December  22. — The  J  87th  anniversary  of  the 
memorable  event  of  the  landing  of  the  forefathers  was 
celebrated  in  the  usual  style.  The  discourse  of  this 
occasion  was  delivered  by  the  Rev.  Horace  HoUey,  of 
Boston,  whose  well-known  oratorical  powers  were  ex- 
erted in  the  happiest  manner,  and  afforded  great  de- 
light and  satisfaction  to  his  numerous  auditors. 

Mr.  Holley  contemplated  the  scenery  about  our  har- 
bor, our  burial  hill,  and  the  rock,  and  held  a  conversa- 
tion with  Deacon  Spooner  in  the  morning,  which  rous- 
ed the  best  energies  of  his  nature,  and  nerved  his 
faculties  to  their  noblest  display.  In  his  discourse  he 
observed  that  he  had  that  morning  received  some  new 
recollections,  and  made  the  following  allusion  in  refer- 
ence to  the  venerable  Spooner.  '  Our  venerable  friend 
knew  and  conversed  with  Elder  Faunce,  who  personal- 
ly knew  the  first  settlers,  so  Polycarp  conversed  with 
St.  John,  the  beloved  disciple  of  our  Saviour.' 

On  this  interesting  occasion,  Deacon  Spooner  offici- 
ated by  reading  the  Psalm,  in  the  ancient  form,  line  by 
line,  and  this  closed  the  religious  services  of  this  ven- 
erable man,  who,  for  so  many  years,  had  been  con- 
stantly seen  in  his  appropriate  seat  in  the  sanctuary  of 
his  God.  He  died  on  the  sabbath,  March,  22,  1S18, 
in  the  83d  year  of  his  age.  Rev.  Mr.  Kendall  preached 
an  occasional  sermon  on  the  following  sabbath,  taking 
for  his  text,  '  The  hoary  head  is  a  crow^n  of  glory,  if  it 
be  found  in  the  way  of  righteousness.'  The  following 
biographical  sketch  of  the  character  of  Deacon  Spoon- 


1817]  .    HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  243 

er  was  written  by  an  intimate  and  venerable  companion 
and  friend  of  the   deceased.* 

'  Died  at  Plymouth,  on  Lord's  day  morning,  the  Hon. 
Ephraim  Spooner,  in  the  S3d  year  of  his  age. 

'It  would  not  merely  be  injustice  to  the  deceased,  but 
injury  to  the  living,  to  suffer  the  life  of  a  man  distin- 
guished by  such  pre-eminent  usefulness  and  active  be- 
nevolence, as  was  that  of  Deacon  Spooner,  to  pass  un- 
noticed. 

'  Deacon  Spooner,  by  his  native  beneficent  disposition, 
suavity  of  manners,  and  constant  readiness  to  oblige, 
early  recommended  himself  to  general  notice.  In  the 
intercourse  of  social  life,  the  expressions  of  his  civility 
and  kindness  were  uncommonly  ardent,  and  to  stran- 
gers might  appear  to  be  somewhat  overstrained  ;  but 
they  who  intimately  knew  him,  can  vouch  with  great 
confidence  that  he  never  made  a  tender  of  service  in 
which  he  was  not  sincere,  nor  dispensed  a  favor  that 
did  not  flow  spontaneously  from  the  heart ;  and  it  may 
be  safely  added,  that  he  never  intentionally  did  a 
wrong  thing,  nor  thought  a  mean  one.  His  fellow- 
townsmen,  impressed  with  his  worth  and  assiduity,  in- 
troduced him  into  the  various  respectable  offices  of 
the  town,  and  his  election  as  town-clerk  for  fifty-two 
years  in  succession,  and  which  he  retained  until  his 
death,  amidst  the  struggles  and  conflicts  of  party,  satis- 
factorily evince  the  upright  and  faithful  manner  with 
which  he  discharged  the  respective  offices  he  sustained. 

'In  opposifion  to  the  iniquitous  system  of  policy  a- 
dopted  by  Great  Britain  to  enthral  her  colonies,  his 
whole  soul  was  engaged.  As  his  industry  was  continu- 
al, nothing  in  his  power  was  left  unessayed  to  promote, 
in  his  language,  the  glorious  cause,  and  the  writer  of 
this  article  could  mention  instances  of  sacrifices  he  of- 
fered at  the  shrine  of  his  country,  and  of  wonderful 
exertions  he  made  to  procure  subsistence  for  the  indi- 

*  Hon.  Joshua  Thomas. 


244  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1817 

gent  during  the  distressing  period  of  the  war  of  the 
revolution,  that  would  excite  the  admiration  of  all  men 
acquainted  with  the  common  principles  of  human  ac- 
tions. But  his  patriotism,  though  in  a  high  degree 
zealous,  had  not  the  least  tincture  of  bitterness,  and  in 
the  distribution  of  his  charilieSj  party  feeling  had  no  par- 
ticipation,— a  pure  philanthropy  seemed  to  have  mark- 
ed him  for  her  own. 

'  Universal  good-will  being  so  conspicuous  a  feature 
in  the  character  of  Deacon  Spooner,  it  is  unnecessary 
to  state  the  warmth  of  his  affection  in  the  relation  of 
husband  and  parent,  or  the  ardor  of  his  attachment 
as  a  friend. 

'  In  the  year  1790,  he  was  appointed  by  the  Execu- 
tive, an  associate  justice  of  what  is  called  the  old 
court  of  common  pleas,  and  held  this  office  till  that 
court  was  abolished.  Being  educated  a  merchant, 
his  friends  cannot  claim  for  him  great  information  in 
legal  science ;  but  a  quick,  natural  discernment,  and 
inflexible  rectitude  of  intention,  generally  guided  him 
to  correct  decisions.  If  any  mistaken  bias  was  ever 
discovered  in  his  opinions,  it  was  insensibly  produced 
by  his  strong  sympathies  with  the  unfortunate.  He 
represented  the  town  of  Plymouth  in  the  legislature 
several  years  with  his  usual  activity  and  perseverance., 
and  finished  his  political  career  as  a  member  of  the 
Executive  Council. 

'  But  the  highest  point  in  the  character  of  Deacon 
Spooner  is  yet  to  be  named.  He  was  from  full  con- 
viction a  christian,  and  for  more  than  fifty  years,  made 
public  profession  of  his  religion,  and  for  thirty-four 
years,  officiated  in  the  office  of  deacon  at  the  altar  of 
the  First  Church  of  Christ  in  Plymouth,  and  the  first  in 
New  England,  ivithout  blemish.  Imbibing  the  heaven- 
ly temper  of  his  master,  like  him  he  went  about  -doing 
good,  whenever  opportunity  presented,  without  cold 
calculations,  on  the  measure  of  his  ability  ;  '  and  in  the 
meekness  of  his  opposition  and  mildness  of  censure^'' 


1817]  HISTORY    OF    PLYiMOUTH.  245 

resembled  the  belov^ed  disciple.  His  piety  was  with- 
out bigotry,  and  his  devotion  without  enthusiasm. 
No  abstruse  polemic  divinity,  no  metaphysical  disqui- 
sitions on  the  nature  of  faith,  perplexed  the  simpli- 
city of  his  creed,  and  alienated  him  from  his  fellow 
christians ;  piety  to  God  and  benevolence  to  man 
being  with  him  the  sole  test  of  orthodoxy  and  disci- 
pleship. 

'  But  about  four  weeks  before  his  own  death.  Deacon 
Spooner  buried  his  wife,  with  whom  he  had  lived  fifty- 
five  years  in  the  most  entire  harmony,  walking  cheer- 
fully together  in  the  christian  course,  and  in  the  ordi- 
nances of  the  gospel ;  and  the  pious  fortitude  and  calm 
resignation  he  exhibited  on  that  occasion  will  not 
admit  of  doubt  that  they  are  again  united  in  shouting 
the  divine  praises. 

'  Accept,  venerable  departed  shade,  this  small 
tribute  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  thy  friendship, 
greatly  beloved  in  life,  deeply  lamented  in  death.' 

A  peculiar  courtesy  and  politeness  of  manners,  and 
good  feeling  were  inherent  in  the  nature  of  our  deceas- 
ed friend.  Numerous  amusing  anecdotes  characteris- 
tic of  the  man  might  be  adduced,  but  they  must  be 
omitted. 

Mr.  Spooner  was  a  genuine  philanthropist,  and  no 
man  was  more  ready  to  interpose  the  kind  office  of 
friendship  towards  a  neighbor.  So  ardent  was  his 
patriotism,  and  such  his  influence,  that  on  more  than 
one  occasion  when  the  town  was  driven  to  great 
extremity  for  money  for  the  purpose  of  raising  soldiers 
for  the  army,  and  procuring  supplies  for  them  and  for 
their  families,  he  had  the  address  to  obtain  a  loan  of  a 
wealthy  gendeman  who  was  a  royalist.  Deacon 
Spooner  married  Elizabeth  ShurtlefF,  and  their  surviv- 
ing children  are  Sally,  James  and  Ebenezer. 

March  8^A.— Died  in  this  town  Nathaniel  Goodwin, 
Esq.,    aged   seventy  years.     He   was  the  son   of  a 
respectable  merchant,  and  was  educated  to  that  pro- 
21* 


246  HISTORY  or  Plymouth.  [1820 

fession  ur>der  parental  care  in  early  life.  He  estab- 
lished himself  by  a  commendable  course  of  industry 
and  perseverance.  He  was  found  among  the  active 
patriots  of  our  revolution,  and  entered  the  public  ser- 
vice in  the  office  of  major  of  railitiay  and  was  attached 
to  colonel  Gerrish's  regiment,  stationed  at  Boston 
and  Cambridge,  to  guard  the  convention  troops  taken 
under  Burgoyne  at  Saratoga,  He  was  also  in  the  ex- 
pedition on  Rhode  Island,  in  the  capacity  of  major,  in 
1778.  Subsequently  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of 
brigadier,  and  that  of  major-general  of  militia,  which 
office  he  sustained  with  honor  until  his  death.  He 
was  for  many  years  a  representative  to  our  legislature, 
and  an  acting  magistrate,  and  displayed  the  qualities 
of  an  impartial  judge.  In  all  his  avocations  he  was 
found  capable  and  assiduous  as  a  useful  citizen, 
and  was  held  in  respect  for  his  probity,  integrity  and 
other  moral  virtues.  General  Goodwin  left  sons  and 
daughters,  one  of  whom  is  Rev.  Ezra  S.  Goodwin,  of 
Sandwich. 

1820. — As  the  present  year  closes  the  second  centu- 
ry since  the  pilgrim  fathers  first  landed  on  our  shores,  a 
respectable  number  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  town, 
impelled  by  a  sense  of  duty  and  pious  gratitude  to 
divine  Providence,  have  instituted  a  society,  which  was 
by  our  legislature  incorporated  February  24th,  by  the 
name  of  Pilgrim  Society.  The  design  of  this  associa- 
tion is  to  commemorate  this  great  historical  event,  and 
to  perpetuate  the  character  and  virtues  of  our  ancestors 
to  posterity.  In  accordance  with  these  views  they 
proceeded  to  erect  a  durable  monumental  edifice  in 
this  town,  for  the  accommodation  of  the  meetings  of 
said  society,  and  as  a  memorial  sacred  to  the  memory 
of  the  founders  of  our  empire. 

Centennial  Celebration  of  the  Landing  of  the  Pil- 
grinis,  December  22d. — The  period  now  recurs  when 
we  commemorate  with  peculiar  solemnity  the  momenl- 
m\s  event  which  gave  birth  and  existence  to  our  nation, 


1820]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  247 

with  all  which  is  valuable  in  the  civil,  literary  and  re- 
ligious establishments  in  New  England.  This  day  com- 
pletes the  second  century  since  our  shores  were  first 
impressed  by  the  footsteps  of  civilized  men.  The 
Pilgrim  Society  desirous  of  giving  to  (he  solemnities 
appropriate  dignity  and  permanent  effect,,  selected  a 
gentleman  of  the  first  talents,  Hon.  Daniel  Webster,  as 
their  orator.  After  a  well  adapted  prayer  by  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Kirkland,  president  of  Harvard  University, 
the  speaker  entertained  the  audience  for  about  two 
hours.  This  address  was  all  that  could  be  anticipated 
or  conceived.  It  was  correct  in  its  historical  state- 
ments, powerful  in  argument,  rich  in  description,  and 
pathetic  and  eloquent  in  action.  The  characters  and 
principles,  the  sufferings  and  virtues  of  the  pilgrim  pu- 
ritans were  portrayed  with  great  justice  and  felicity. 
The  useful  and  glorious  efforts  of  their  wisdom  and  en- 
terprise, and  independent  love  of  truth,  were  fully  dis- 
played to  the  judgement  and  feelings  of  an  intelligent 
and  delighted  audience.  But  we  are  sensible  of  the 
difficulty  of  doing  justice  to  this  appropriate  and  splen- 
did performance,  and  must  refer  to  the  discourse  itself 
for  a  just  sense  of  its  pre-eminent  merits.  The  con- 
course of  people  was  immense,  far  more  numerous  than 
on  any  former  occasion  ;  and  a  great  portion  of  them 
from  our  most  distinguished  and  respectable  citizens. 
A  procession  was  formed  at  11  o'clock,  soon  after  the 
business  of  the  Pilgrim  Society  was  transacted,  and  es- 
corted by  the  Standish  Guards^  a  neat  independent  com- 
pany lately  organized,  and  commanded  by  Capt.  Coom- 
er  Weston,  moved  through  the  main  street  of  the  town 
to  the  meeting  house,  and,  after  the  services  of  the 
sanctuary,  was  attended  by  the  same  corps  to  the  new 
court-house,  where  they  sat  down  to  an  elegant,  though 
simple  repast,  provided  in  a  style  very  proper  for  the 
occasion,  where  the  company  was  served  with  the- 
treasures  both  of  the  land  and  the  sea.  Among  other 
affecting  memorials  calling  to  mind  the  distresses  of 


248  HISTORY   OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1820 

the  pilgrims,  was  five  kernels  of  parched  corn  placed 
on  each  plate,  alluding  to  the  time  in  1623,  when  that 
was  the  proportion  allowed  to  each  individual  on  ac- 
count of  the  scarcity.  John  Watson,  Esq.,  respectable 
by  years,  and  dignified  by  his  gentlemanly  manners, 
and  the  only  surviving  member  of  the  Old  Colony  Club, 
presided  during  the  hours  of  dinner.  Tlie  Hon.  Joshua 
Thomas,  president  of  the  Pilgrim  Society,  to  the  great 
regret  of  the  gentlemen  present,  was  prevented  from 
attending,  by  severe  illness.  Mr.  Watson  was  assisted 
by  Hon.  William  Davis,  of  Plymouth,  and  Alden  Brad- 
ford, Esq.,  of  Boston  ;  and  the  following  gentlemen,  by 
request  of  the  president,  acted  as  vice-presidents,  viz. 
Hon.  T.  Bigelow,  Hon.  L.  Lincoln,  William  Jackson, 
Esq.,  Judah  Alden,  Esq.,  William  R.  Rotch,  Esq.,  and 
F.  C.  Gray,  Esq.  Good  humour  and  good  feelings 
were  displayed  in  every  countenance  and  expressed 
by  a  constant  interchange  of  friendly  greetings  and  ar- 
dent congratulations ;  and  such  was  the  decorum  and 
propriety  of  deportment  through  the  day,  that  even  the 
stern  pilgrims  might  have  looked  dow^n  without  rebuke. 
After  the  regular  toasts  were  announced,  Mr.  Bradford 
rose  and  observed  to  the  members  of  the  Pilgrim  So- 
ciety (and  the  company)  that  he  had  been  requested 
by  their  president.  Judge  Thomas,  to  express  his  great 
regret  in  not  being  able  to  join  them  in  the  solemnities 
of  the  day;  to  assure  them  that  he  had  anticipated  the 
joyous  celebration  with  peculiar  interest  and  pleasure, 
and  that  while  life  was  continued  to  him,  it  would  be 
his  ardent  wish  to  promote  the  objects  of  the  associa- 
tion, in  cherishing  a  grateful  remembrance  of  the  vir- 
tues of  the  pilgrims,  and  in  giving  his  support  to  their 
principles  and  institutions.  The  following,  communi- 
cated by  Judge  Thomas,  was  then  given  and  received 
with  great  approbation ;  and  the  cry  of  encore,  encore, 
was  repeated  from  every  part  of  the  hall.  '  Our  Fore- 
fathers' Creed  ;  Law,  Liberty  and  Religion  :    If  their 


1820]  HISTORY   OF    PLYMOUTH.  249 

descendants  would  preserve  the  two  first,  let  them  not 
expunge  the  third  article.'  * 

Hon.  Judge  Davis  then  proposed  a  toast  for  the 
health  of  Judge  Thomas,  whose  cheering  society  and 
accej)table  superintendence  we  had  been  accustomed 
to  enjoy  on  these  anniversaries. 

After  the  first  toast  was  drank,  the  Hon.  Judge  Da- 
vis, President  of  the  Historical  Society,  who,  with  sev- 
eral of  the  members  had  been  appointed  a  committee 
to  congratulate  the  Pilgrim  Society  on  this  interesting 
occasion,  addressed  them  as  follows  : — 

^Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Pilgrim  Society, 
— The  celebration  of  this  memorable  day,  which  ex- 
cites such  just  and  general  notice,  could  not  fail  to  en- 
gage the  attention  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  So- 
ciety. Their  pursuits  are  in  unison  with  the  objects  of 
your  association,  and  they  cheerfully  accept  your  invi- 
tation to  this  interesting  festival.  In  behalf  of  that  so- 
ciety, and  as  chairm.an  of  their  committee,  appointed 
for  this  purpose,  it  is  my  grateful  office  to  present  to 
you  their  congratulations  and  to  express  their  cordial 
sympathy  in  the  sentiments  of  veneration  which  you  so 
eminently  cherish  for  the  founders  of  our  race. 

'  With  this  manifestation  of  their  fraternal  regard, 
permit  me,  in  their  behalf,  to  request  your  acceptance 
of  an  entire  copy  of  their  collections.  By  these  pub- 
lications, many  precious  memorials  of  our  ancestors 
have  been  rescued  from  oblivion,  and  we  would  wish 
them  to  find  a  place  in  the  hbrary  of  your  instilution. 

'  The  annual  celebrations  of  the  landing  of  the  fa- 
thers on  this  memorable  ground,  have  been  uniformly 
regarded  with  complacency.  Statesmen,  sages  and 
scholars,  the  busy  and  the  contemplative,  the  aged  and 
the  young,  all  delight  to  participate  in  the  pious  recol- 
lections with  which  you  are  animated. 

*  Judge  Thomas's  toast  alluded  to  the  third  article  in  our  Bill  of 
Rights;  the  question  of  expunging  it  was  then  under  consideration 
in  the  state  convention. 


250  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1820 

'The  toils  and  perils  of  suffering  virtue — the  objects 
and  aims,  the  struggles  and  the  rewards  of  the  pilgrims, 
furnish  a  most  instructive  lesson,  and  are  reviewed  with 
tender  emotions.  In  them  the  painter  finds  a  subject 
for  the  happiest  effort  of  his  pencil — poetry  offers  her 
garland,  and  the  sons  of  genius  are  emulous  of  your 
appointment  to  the  principal  performance  of  the  day. 
This  is  no  common  holyday.  On  the  present  occa- 
sion, the  completion  of  the  second  century  since  the 
landing  of  our  fathers,  the  impressions  habitually  con- 
nected with  your  celebrations  assume  a  deeper  interest. 
Visitors  from  every  direction  repair  to  your  respected 
residence,  and  many  of  the  fair  daughters  of  the  land, 
regardless  of  the  severity  of  the  season,  express  a  kin- 
dred spirit  with  the  wives  and  daughters  of  the  pil- 
grims, and  unite  in  your  reverential  homage.  Scenes, 
which  are  to  you  familiar,  attract  the  attention  of  your 
guests.  They  gaze  on  the  wintry  wave  which  dashes 
on  your  shore,  for  there  they  seem  to  espy  the  ap- 
proaching shallops ;  and  on  that  shore  they  trace,  in 
imagination,  the  footsteps  of  the  unsheltered  wander- 
ers. They  survey  the  streams,  and  drink  at  the  springs 
which  invited  the  weary  exiles  here  to  commence  their 
settlement.  They  ascend  the  height,  where  yet  are  seen 
the  outlines  of  the  first  footsteps  of  the  Pilgrims,  and 
their  first  place  of  worship.  There  rest  the  remains 
of  the  departed  worthies.  No  monument  to  their 
memory  appears  in  the  hallowed  ground  ;  but  every 
heart  erects  a  monument,  while  it  dwells  with  holy  mu- 
sings on  the  life  and  death  of  the  righteous,  on  the  sure 
resurrection  of  the  just. 

'  It  is  a  happy  privilege  to  live  to  witness  this  day, 
and  to  unite  with  kindred  minds  in  its  services.  To 
the  Pilgrim  Society  is  committed  the  dignified  trust  of 
perpetuating  these  filial  observances.  Under  such  aus- 
pices, we  are  assured  that  these  annual  solemnities  will 
ever  preserve  their  just  and  appropriate  character. 
Most  cordially,  gentlemen,  do  we  wish  prosperity  and 
honor  to  your  institution. 


1820]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  251 

'  The  purposes  of  its  establishment  are  generous  and 
elevated.  They  touch  the  heart,  and  open  to  the  in- 
tellectual view  the  most  impressive  considerations  ;  for 
truth,  freedom,  patriotism,  social  order,  religion,  all  the 
lofty  aims  and  characteristics  of  humanity  are  associa- 
ted with  the  objects  of  your  society,  and  with  the  inci- 
dents which  we  are  assembled  to  commemorate.  Your 
recollections  will  attest  that  this  is  no  exaggeration,  and 
what  we  have  this  day  heard,  affords  abundant  confirm- 
ation of  the  rich  variety  which  the  '  short  and  simple 
annals  of  the  poor,'  can  furnish  for  the  exercise  of  in- 
tellectual energy  and  discriminating  observation.  We 
have  witnessed  the  affecting  and  sublime  reflection  pre- 
sented to  a  devout  and  benevolent  mind,  from  the  brief 
history  of  our  ancestors  ;  and  the  auspicious  consequen- 
ces, springing  from  the  most  humble  beginnings,  are 
consoling  to  every  friend  of  man,  and  encouraging  to 
the  cause  of  truth    and  virtue. 

^The  "stricken  deer  that  left  the  herd"  were  not 
destined  to  perish;  the  wilderness  and  the  solitary 
place  are  glad  for  them,  and  the  desert  blossoms  as  the 
rose.^ 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Kendall,  one  of  the  trustees  of  the 
Pilgrim  Society,  by  their  request,  and  in  their  behalf, 
replied  with  great  feeling  and  propriety.  He  spoke  of 
the  great  respectability  and  utility  of  the  Historical  So- 
ciety, by  the  instrumentality  of  which  so  much  that 
was  important  and  interesting  in  the  early  history  of 
the  country,  and  particularly  of  the  adventures  and 
principles  of  the  pilgrim  fathers  was  collected  and 
preserved.  In  referring  to  the  virtues  and  sufferings, 
the  faith  and  piety  of  our  fathers,  he  paid  a  just  tribute 
to  their  precious  memories  ;  and  expressed  a  hope, 
that  these  celebrations,  devoted  to  the  recollection  of 
their  services  in  the  cause  of  religion  and  the  rights  of 
conscience,  would  have  the  happy  effect  of  strengthen- 
ing our  love  of  pure  and  unadulterated  Christianity, 
and  increasing  our  attachment  to  the  correct  priaci- 


252  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1820 

pies,  the  moral  habits  and  social  virtues,  the  civil  and 
religious  institutions  of  the  puritan  founders  of  New 
England,  to  whose  zeal  and  firmness  and  persever- 
ance we  owe  so  much. 

The  Hon.  Mr.  Lincoln,  one  of  the  vice-presidents, 
of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society,  also  offered  their 
congratulations  to  the  members  of  the  Pilgrim  Society, 
and  mude  the  following  address  : 

^Mr.  President — The  American  Antiquarian  Socie- 
ty, by  their  attending  officers  and  members,  beg  to  be  in- 
dulged the  pleasure  of  publicly  proffering  the  most  cor- 
dial congratuladons  to  the  Pilgrim  Society,  upon  their 
organization,  and  upon  the  auspicious  circumstances 
under  which  they  are  convened  on  this  highly  interest- 
ing occasion.  The  spot  endeared  by  all  the  associated 
recollections  of  the  first  landing  of  our  forefathers  is 
best  consecrated  to  their  fame,  by  the  joyous  commem- 
oration of  their  valor  and  virtues,  and  a  grateful  recog- 
nition of  the  privations  they  patiently  endured,  of  the 
difficulties  they  triumphantly  encountered,  and  of  the 
work  they  gloriously  accomplished.  Two  centuries 
have  now  passed  since  in  the  rigor  of  an  inclement 
season,  in  the  desolation  of  a  wilderness,  amidst  sava- 
ges and  beasts  of  prey,  the  tread  of  Christians  im- 
pressed these  shores  with  the  first  footsteps  of  civiliza- 
tion. The  hazard  in  corporeal  existence  which  they 
incurred,  the  struggle  for  self-preservation  which  they 
maintained,  their  undaunted  energy  in  danger,  their  un- 
bending integrity  in  temptation,  their  pious  resignation 
in  suffering,  their  fear  and  worship  of  God,  and  their 
regard  for  and  love  of  each  other,  are  themes,  which,  on 
every  occasion  of  remembrance,  swell  with  enthusias- 
tic admiration  the  hearts  of  their  descendants.  Forev- 
er cherished  be  these  recollections  !  Forever  honored 
be  the  names  and  characters  of  the  pilgrims !  On  ev- 
ery recurring  anniversary  of  their  landing  may  this  first 
scene  of  their  trials  and  their  sufferings,  their  conflicts 
and  their  endurance,  be  hallowed  by  the  personal  hom- 


d820]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  253 

acre  of  those  wlio  are  worthy  to  inherit  the  rich  fruits 
of  their  triumph.  May  the  Pils^rim  Society  euunently 
flourish,  and  with  its  success  may  puhhc  gratitude  be 
excited  towards  all  those  enlightened,  munificent  and 
patriotic  men  by  whose  merits  and  exertions  the  occa- 
sion has  hitherto  been  liad  in  honor,  and  who  are  now 
associated  to  make  the  record  of  that  occasion  perma- 
nent.' .  ,  TIT         O 

By  the   request  of  the   president,    Mr.    Secretary 
Bradford,  a  trustee  of  the  Pilgrim  Society  addressed  the 
officers  and  members  of  the  Antiquarian  Society,  who 
were  present,  as  a  delegation  specially  appointed,  and 
•  observed  that  the  honorable   notice  taken  of  the  Pil- 
grim Society,  and  the  approbation  expressed  as  to  its 
views  and  objects,  were  highly  gratifying  to  the  mem- 
bers  of  the  association ;  that  the  generous  congratula- 
tions, tendered  on  the  occasion,  were  cordially  recipro- 
cated ;  that  the  best  wishes  of  the  friends  of  our  lore- 
fathers  attended  the  American  Antiquarian  Society  lor 
success  in- their  honorable  purposes,  and   expressed  a 
hope  thatthe  result  of  their  several  associations  Avould  be 
a  more  extensive  and  efficient   sentiment  m  favor  ot 
the  civil  and  rehgious  institutions  ol  our  beloved  coun- 

^^^m  B  's  reply  was  made  without  opportunity  for 
preparation.  The  above-mentioned  societies  had  been 
invited  by  the  Pilgrim  Society  to  attend  the  celebra- 

^'°A  splendid  ball  in  the  evening  closed  the  festivi- 
tiesof  this  memorable  day.  The  company  was  numer- 
ous beyond  any  ever  recollected  to  have  been  convened 

in  that  place.  .  ,  a  tu^ 

The  hall  was  decorated  with  great  taste,  and  the 
costume  of  the  ladies  was  at  once  beautiful  and  uniform, 
as  if  there  had  been  an  understanding  to  avoid  mere 
show  and  expense,  and  to  study  appropriate  simplicity 
united  with  real  ele2;ance  ;  and  it  was  indeed  a  pleasant 
scene,  where  we  might  look  around  on  a  company  af 
22 


254    ^  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1821 

six  hundred  of  different  ages,  among  whom  innocent 
mirth,  and  social  feelings  were  so  eminently  prevalent. 
And  it  is  also  highly  satisfactory  to  reflect  that  the 
amusements,  such  as  these,  where  excess  is  avoided 
and  the  more  sober  spirit  of  age  sheds  an  influ- 
ence to  restrain  all  improper  levity,  are  not  incompati- 
ble with  a  love  of  genuine  virtue  and  respect  for  the 
stern  characters  of  our  pious  and  venerated  ancestors. 

The  inhabitants  of  this  most  ancient  town  in  New 
England  were  highly  gratified  by  the  collection  of  re- 
speciabie  citizens  from  all  parts  of  the  state  ;  and  those 
who  made  this  pleasant  pilgrimage  to  the  rock  of  our 
fathers  were  equally  gratified  by  the  attention,  civility 
and  hospitality  shown  them  by  the  families  residing  on 
this  consecrated  spot.  The  object  of  the  Pilgrim  Soci- 
ety was  highly  approved,  and  many  new  members  were 
added  on  the  22d  inst. 

Mr.  Webster's  Oration  soon  passed  through  three 
editions,  and  the  generous  spirited  author  would  not  ap- 
propriate any  part  of  the  profits  of  the  copy-right  to 
himself,  but  presented  it  as  a  donation  to  the  Pilgrim 
Society,  by  which  one  hundred  dollars  were  added  to 
its  funds. 

January  10. — Expired  in  this  town,  the  Hon.  Josh- 
ua Thomas.  He  was  born  in  1751,  and  was  descend- 
ed from  one  of  the  most  respectable  families  in  the 
colony,  his  ancestor  being  William  Thomas,  o{  Marsh- 
field,  who  was  a  particular  friend  of  governor  Wins- 
Jow,  and  settled  near  him. 

Judge  Thomas  was  the  son  of  Dr.  William  Thomas, 
an  eminent  physician  in  this  town,  who  lived  to  an  ad- 
vanced age.  The  following  sketch  of  our  distinguished 
townsman  is  taken  from  the  Collections  of  the  Historical 
Society,  vol.  x.  2d  series. 

'  Mr.  Thomas  received  his  education  at  Harvard 
University,  and  was  considered  one  of  the  first  scholars 
in  the  large  class  of  which  he  was  a  member.  He  was 
particularly  distinguished  for  a  flowing  and  elegant  style 


1821]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  255 

of  writing,  and  in  subsequent  periods  of  bis  life  he 
gave  repealed  evidence  of  tbis  liappy  talent.  He  was 
graduated  in  July,  1772.  Afier  passing  a  few  monlbs 
in  teaching  youth,  (an  ennployment  in  wliicb,  formerly, 
some  of  the  best  scholars  in  the  state  engaged  for 
a  short  period,  on  leaving  the  university,)  he  gave  his 
attention  to  theological  studies,  with  a  view  to  the  cler- 
ical profession.  But  he  was  never  employed  in  its 
public  services.  The  political  controversy  with  Great 
Britain,  which  was  now  becoming  highly  interesting 
and  approaching  to  a  crisis,  seems  to  have  engaged  his 
chief  attention,  as  it  did  that  of  other  patriots  of  that 
eventful  period.  He  was  adjutant  of  a  regiment  of 
newly  organized  militia,  raised  in  Plymouth  county  in 
the  autumn  of  1774;  and,  at  their  request  he  deliver- 
ed a  public  address  on  the  political  state  of  the  country, 
which  was  received  with  great  approbation  and  ap- 
plause. 

*  In  April,  1775,  soon  after  the  batde  of  Lexington, 
Col.  John  Thomas,  of  Kingston,  who  had  been  an  of- 
ficer in  1758,  raised  a  regiment,  and  marched,  with 
others,  to  Roxbnry.  Here  he  acted  for  some  months, 
as  commander  of  the  several  regiments  encamped  at 
that  place,  with  the  rank  of  general,  while  general 
Ward  commanded  at  Cambridge,  and  was  actually 
commander  in  chief  of  the  Massachusetts  troops,  until 
the  arrival  of  general  Washington,  in  July  following, 
who  had  received  a  commission  to  command  the 
American  forces  of  all  the  colonies.  Mr.  Thomas  was 
aid  to  general  Thomas  at  this  period,  and  for  this  whole 
campaign  ;  and  his  intelligence  and  activity  rendered  him 
highly  useful  to  the  general,  and  the  division  under  his 
command. 

'  In  the  same  capacity  he  accompanied  general 
Thomas,  in  the  spring  of  1776,  to  Ticonderoga  and 
Crown  Point,  on  Lake  Champlain,  who  was  entrusted 
with  the  chief  command  of  the  American  troops  in  that 
quarter.     After  a  few  months   service  on   that  expedi- 


255  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [I82P 

tion,  general  Thomas  died,  and  ibe  command  devolvecJ' 
on  general  Schuyler,  of  New  York.  Major  Thomas 
then  left  the  army  and  returned  to  his  native  town, 
where  lie  engaged  in  the  study  of  the  law,  and  was  oc-^ 
casionally  employed  by  government  in  various  agencies- 
for  the  public  service ;  but  did  not  again  go  into  the 
field. 

*  In  the  year  1781,  he  was  elected  a  representative 
from  Plymouth,  and  after  serving  the  town  in  this  ca- 
pacity for  several  years,  he  was  chosen  one  of  the  sen- 
ators (cfir  that  county,  and,  in  1792,  was  appointed 
judge  of  probate  on  the  decease  of  the  Hon.  Joseph' 
Gushing.  This  office  he  sustained  until  his  death,  a' 
period  of  tweniy-nine  years  ;  and  its  various  duties 
were  discharged  with  a  correctness  and  integrity,  with 
an  impartiality  and  patience  never  exceeded,  perhaps 
by  any  one,  and  which  secured  to  him  the  esteem  and 
respect  of  the  whole  county.  There  was  such  amenity 
in  his  manners,  and  such  a  spirit  of  accommodation  in 
tiie  discharge  of  his  official  duties,  as  well  as  in  the  pri- 
vate circle,  that  all  who  associated  with  him,  either  for 
public  business  or  social  converse,  were  pleased  and 
delighted.  His  memory  was  uncommonly  retentive, 
and  he  was  full  of  anecdotes  calculated  to  illustrate  the 
opinions  and  manners  of  men  of  former  days,  particu- 
larly of  the  patriots  and  statesmen  of  1 775.  He  was 
fond  of  perusing  the  works  of  ethical  and  theological 
writers.  His  reading  was  very  extensive  on  these  sub- 
jects. He  was  well  acquainted  with  the  various  sys-^ 
terns  of  theology  in  the  christian  world  ;  but  gave  his  de- 
cided preference  to  that,  which  is  now  denominated 
unitarian  and  hberal.  He  went  to  th^  fountain  of  inspi- 
ration for  his  religious  sentiments ;  he  admitted  no- 
other  authority  as  decisive  but  the  bible  ;  and  this,  he 
believed,  every  one  was  bound  to  examine  and  interpret 
for  himself;  yet  he  approved,  generally  of  the  writings 
of  Price,  and  Watson,  of  Mayhew,  Chauncy,  and  others 
©£  llieir  catholic  views.     In  his  political   character  b© 


1821}  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  257 

ranked  among  the  ardent  friends  of  rationnl  freedom, 
and  was  a  true  disciple  of  the  Washington  school. 
Though  an  enemy  to  arbitrary  rulers,  who  forgot 
right  and  attempted  to  exercise  illegal  and  unconstitu- 
tional power,  he  w^as  a  firm  supporter  of  all  legitimate 
authority,  and  a  ready  advocate  of  law  and  order.  In 
the  various  critical  periods  of  the  commonwealth, 
during  his  active  life,  he  united  his  efforts,  with  other 
good  men,  in  vindicating  correct  constitutional  princi- 
ples, in  opposition  to  popular  excitements  and  party 
feelings. 

*^His  qualities  as  a  parent,  neighbor,  and  friend  were 
peculiarly  happy  and  commendable.  He  was  indul- 
gent, mild,  generous,  disinterested.  As  a  lawyer,  al- 
so, he  shared  largely  in  the  esteem  and  confidence  of 
the  people.  He  was  too  honorable  to  impose  on  the 
ignorant,  or  to  exact  even  the  usual  fees  for  profession- 
al business  of  the  poorer  classes.  Most  men,  with  the 
portion  of  business  which  he  had  as  a  lawyer,  and  with- 
out a  charge  of  dishonesty,  would  have  accumulated 
much  more  than  he  did.  He  was  many  years  presi- 
dent of  the  bar  in  Plymouth  county  ;  and  the  following 
vote,  passed,  unanimously,  at  the  first  court  holden  in 
in  that  county,  after  his  decease,  fully  shows  the  high 
estimation,  which  his  brethren  of  the  profession  had  of 
his  talents  and  character.  ''  The  bar,  taking  into  con- 
sideration the  afflicting  dispensation  of  Providence,  in 
removing  by  death,  their  highly  respectable  president, 
the  Hon.  Joshua  Thomas,  distinguished  by  his  literary 
and  legal  acquirements,  his  moral  and  social  virtues, 
and  with  a  deep  sense  of  the  loss  which  the  comrnuni- 
ty  in  general  have  sustained  by  this  melancholy  event, 
do  resolve,  that  they  will,  in  token  of  their  lespect  for 
his  memory,  wear  crape  from  this  time  lill  the  end  of 
the  next  term  of  the  supreme  judicial  court  for  this 
county." 

'  The  honorable  notice  taken  of  our  friend  by  Judge 
Putnam,  at  a  session  of  the  supreme  judicial  court  in 
22* 


258  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [182! 

Plymouth,  in  May,  1821,  z.t  the  first  term  thereof  in 
the  new  court  house,  is  worthy  of  preservation.  "  Alas  I 
that  our  joy,  on  this  interesting  occasion,  should  be  mix- 
ed with  grief  for  the  loss  of  that  exc(*llent  and  venera- 
ble man,  who  presided  in  your  courts,  and  was  so  long 
the  widow's  friend,  and  father  of  the  fatherless.  This 
temple  of  justice  is  but  one  of  the  durable  proofs  of  his 
influence,  and  of  the  never-failing  confidence,  which  your 
people  had  in  his  integrity  and  judgement.  His  respect- 
ed name  will  descend  with  distinguished  honor  to  pos^ 
terity :  but  the  benignity  of  his  countenance  and  man- 
ners can  be  properly  estimated  only  by  those,  who  had 
the  happiness  to  know  him.  If  he  were  here  to  day^ 
be  would  rejoice  with  you,  because  he  would  have  be- 
lieved that  this  well-timed  liberality  will  be  productive 
of  lasting  honor  and  benefit  to  the  country,  as  well  as  to 
the  state.  He  was  fully  impressed  with  that  venera- 
tion for  the  laws  and  for  the  magistracy,  which  will  ev- 
er be  associated  with  these  walls." 

'  When  a  Bible  Society  was  formed  in  the  counties 
of  Plymouth  and  Norfolk,  in  1814,  he  was  chosen  pre- 
sident, and  so  continued  to  the  time  of  his  death.  He 
was  also  president  of  the  Pilgrim  Society,  and  his  death 
is  deeply  lamented  by  all  its  members.  The  regrets 
of  the  Historical  Society  are  mingled  with  those  ofoth- 
ejs,  with  whom  he  was  associated  for  useful  and  patri- 
otic purposes  ;  and  they  improve  the  earliest  opportu- 
nity to  record  this  sketch  of  his  character  and  services 
from  a  respectful  regard  for  his  memory,  and  as  an  in- 
citement to  others  to  honorable  exertion  for  the  good 
of  the  public  and  of  posterity.' 

Judge  Thomrs  mairied  Isabella  Stevenson  ;  and  their 
descendants  are  John  Boise,  Wilham,  and  Joshua  Bar- 
ker. 

The  town  purchased  of  the  court  of  sessions  of  the 
county,  the  old  court  house,  for  the  sum  of  $2,000,  to 
be  appropriated  as  a  Town  House. 

JlpriL — The  town  voted  that  the  court  of  sessions 
©f  the  county  may  make  any  walks  or  improvement  on 


1823J  HISTOKY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  259 

the  town's  land  in  front  of  the  new  court  house,  or  in 
any  way  ornament  the  same  with  trees  or  posts,  he, 
leaving  a  sufficient  road  open  on  each  side ;  but  no  build- 
ing whatever  to  be  erected  on  the  land. 

J\lay  29. — The  town  voted  to  instruct  their  repre- 
sentative in  general  court  to  use  every  reasonable  effort 
for  better  regulating  and  diminishing  the  sale  and  use 
of  spirituous  liquoi's,  and  for  preventing  pauperism. 

Voted,  also,  that  the  selectmen  be  requested  to 
address  the  selectmen  of  the  several  towns  in  the 
county,  furnishing  them  with  a  copy  of  the  above  vote, 
and  request  their  co-operation  therewith  ;  either  on 
their  own  responsibility,  or  by  laying  the  subject 
before  their  several  towns  respectively. 

1822. — The  town  voted  to  petition  the  legislature 
to  pass  a  law  prohibiting  fires  in  the  woods,  by  coal- 
pits in  Plymouth,  Sandwich,  Carver,  Wareham  and 
Kingston. 

Mr.  Ichabod  Shaw,  died  this  year,  aged  eighty- 
seven.  He  was  descended  from  John  Shaw,  of  an 
ancient  and  respectable  family,  who  was  among  our 
first  settlers,  and  located  himself  in  Middlebo- 
rough.  He  was  an  ingenious  and  industrious  artist, 
possessing  a  sagacious  mind,  and  was  held  in  regard 
for  his  fiiendly  and  social  qualities.  He  was  strongly 
attached  to  the  names  of  the  pilgrim  fathers,  and  was 
himself  an  exemplifier  of  their  simple  manners  and 
virtues.  He  married  a  daughter  of  deacon  John 
Atwood  of  this  town,  and  was  the  parent  of  five  sons 
and  seven  daughters. 

182:3.  December  22. — This  day  brings  us  to  the 
203d  year  eince  the  landing  of  the  pilgrims  in  this 
place.  The  semi-annual  meeting  of  the  Pilgrim 
Society  was  held,  agreeably  to  the  provision  of  their 
constitution.  The  interesting  associations  and  pleas- 
ing recollections  of  the  occasion  were  awakened  and 
indulged,  but  the  a])prnpriate  public  performances  were 
dispensed  with.  Several  parties  of  the  younger  class 
resorted  to  the   salutary   amusement  at  the  dancing 


260  HISTORY    OF    PLYMQUTH.  [1824 

halls.  The  Standish  Guards,  an  elegant  indepen- 
dent company,  commanded  by  Capt.  Coomer  Weston, 
paraded,  and  marched  through  the  streets,  visited  the 
rock,  and  dined  in  public,  wliere  a  number  of  appropri- 
ate toasts  were  pronounced. 

1824.  January  26. — At  a  meeting  of  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  town,  it  was  voted  to  petition  congress 
for  aid  in  repairing  the  beach.  The  petition  expresses 
a  grateful  acknowledgment  for  the  appropriations  here- 
tofore made,  for  surveying  and  securing  the  harbor  of 
Plymouth ;  after  which  it  proceeds  to  represent,  '  that, 
since  the  landing  of  our  ancestors  in  1620,  this  beach 
has  been  gradually  wasting.  From  the  year  1784  to 
the  present  lime,  repairs  have  been  necessary  for  its 
preservation;  and  since  the  year  1806,  the  sum  of 
$40,000  has  been  expended  in  repairing  it.  This 
sum  has  been  raised  by  grants  from  this  staie,  by  con- 
tributions of  individuals,  and  by  taxes  assessed  on  your 
memorialists.  The  repairs,  thus  made,  have  hitherto 
warranted  the  belief,  that  with  our  means,  though 
small,  we  should  be  able  to  preserve  it  without  further 
aid  from  the  public,  such,  however,  has  been  the  de- 
struction, by  the  late  violent  storms,  of  the  northern 
extremity  of  the  beach,  heretofore  considered  the  most 
permanent,  as  well  as  the  most  important,  and  where 
repairs  have  not  been  considered  requisite,  that  your 
memorialists  are  satisfied  it  is  wholly  beyond  their 
means  to  make  the  repairs  necessary  to  preserve  it. 

'  Your  memorialists  forbear  to  describe  the  distress 
that  the  destruction  of  this  beach  will  bring  upon  the 
inhabitants  of  the  ports  of  Plymouth  and  Kingston,  in 
the  loss  of  their  property  and  employments ;  nor 
would  they  particularly  remind  you  of  the  hopeless 
situation  in  which  our  nutnerous  class  of  fishermen 
would  thereby  be  placed,  who,  from  their  youth,  have 
had  no  other  employment  than  in  the  fisheries ;  but 
they  would  most  respectfully  place  the  merits  of  their 
appeal  on  the  importance  of  this  harbor  to  the  com- 
merce, navigation,  and  revenue  of  the  country. 


1824]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  261 

'  Tliere  are  now,  belonging  lo  the  ports  of  Plymouth 
and  Kingston,  two  ships,  fourteen  brigs,  sixty-five 
schooners,  and  fifteen  sloops,  measuring  8,228  tons, 
which  vessels  are  employed  partly  in  foreign  trade, 
partly  in  the  coasting  trade,  and  partly  in  the  whale, 
cod,  and  mackerel  fisheries. 

'The  amount  of  duties  secured  on  imports  in  the 
district  of  Plymouth  within  the  last  three  years,  is 
$65,574  67,  four-fifths  of  which  amount  were  secur- 
ed on  importations  at  this  port.  This  harbor  is  often 
frequented  by  vessels,  when  by  adverse  winds  they  are 
driven  from  their  ports  of  destination  north  of  this 
district ;  and  during  the  inclement  seasons  of  the  year, 
vessels  are  often  saved  from  shipwreck  by  entering  it. 
It  is  also  of  great  national  importance  in  time  of  war. 
It  is  the  only  harbor,  south  of  Boston,  in  the  Massa- 
chusetts Bay,  embracing  a  sea  coast  of  more  than  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles,  in  which  vessels  can  then 
anchor  in  safety  from  the  enemy.  During  the  wars 
in  which  this  country  has  been  engaged,  a  large 
amount  of  property  has  been  saved  to  individuals,  and 
of  revenue  to  the  government,  which,  without  this 
safe  retreat,  would  have  been  lost.  During  the  last 
war,  many  vessels  were  thus  saved.  The  duties 
arising  on  the  cargoes  of  two  vessels  amounted  to  J 154,- 
836  21,  which,  without  this  harbor,  would  have  inevit- 
ably fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  From 
March,  1S13,  to  May,  1814,  was  perhaps  the  most 
gloomy  period  of  the  war.  The  ships  of  the  enemy 
were  almost  constantly  cruising  in  the  Massachusetts 
Bay.  Yet,  during  this  short  and  perilous  period,  the 
duties  secured  at' this  port  on  the  cargoes  of  vessels, 
that  escaped  the  ships  of  the  enemy  and  found  safety 
in  this  harbor,  amounted  to  the  sum  of  $20,318  32. 
By  the  public  surveys  it  also  appears,  that  ships  of 
the  line  can  anchor  with  safety  in  this  harbor,  which 
may  be  considered  as  increasing  the  interest  the  pub- 
lic have  in  its  preservation. 


262  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1824 

*  Your  memoralists,  having  thus  briefly  stated  the  im- 
portance of  this  harbor  to  themselves  and  ihe  public, 
and  their  inability  to  make  the  repairs  on  ihe  beach 
which  are  necessary  to  its  preservation,  do  pray  your 
honorable  body  to  take  the  subject  into  consideration, 
and  to  grant  them  such  aid  in  repairing  it  as  to  your 
wisdom  may  appear  proper.'  Subsequent  to  this  me- 
morial, congress  made  g^rants  amounting  to  $43,566  for 
the  repairs.     See  under  head  Beach. 

Monumental  Edifice.  September  1. — The  funds  of 
the  Pilgrim  Society,  being  thoui;ht  sufficient  to  warrant 
the  trustees  in  commencing  the  budding  of  a  monu- 
mental edifice,  the  corner-stone  was  this  day  laid,  with 
appropriate  solemnities.  This  edifice  is  to  be  seventy 
by  forty  feet,  with  walls  of  unwrought  split  granite  ;  the 
height  from  the  top  of  the  foundation  to  the  eave  cor- 
nice being  about  thirty-three  feet,  forms  two  stories. 
The  lower  room  is  to  be  about  ten  feet  in  the  clear 
of  the  ceiling;  and  the  upper  to  the  impost  moulding 
about  twenty  feet,  to  which  being  added  the  curve  of 
the  ceiling  is  about  twenty-three  feet.  The  present 
contract  extends  no  farther  than  to  enclose  the  main 
building.  It  is  intended,  as  soon  as  the  state  of  the 
funds  will  justify,  to  form  the  front  by  an  addition  of 
about  twenty  feet,  with  a  double  tier  of  steps,  having 
entrance  to  ihe  upper  room  and  by  descent  to  the  low- 
er. The  front  will  be  finished  with  a  Doric  portico  on 
four  columns,  of  about  twenty  feet  in  height,  the  base 
of  which  will  be  from  three  to  four  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  street.  The  situation  presents  a  full  view  of 
the  river  and  outer  harbor. 

The  Pilgrim  Society,  under  the  escort  of  the  Stand- 
ish  Guards,  proceeded  to  the  meeting  house,  where  in- 
tercession was  made  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kendall,  select 
passages  of  scripture  were  read  by  Rev.  Mr.  Willis,  of 
Kingston,  and  an  address  on  the  character  and  virtues 
of  our  fathers  was  delivered  by  Alden  Bradford,  Esq., 
reaching  the  hearts  of  his  hearers  as  it  came   warm 


1824]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  265 

from  his  own.  The  solemnities  of  the  church  were 
closed  by  singing  a  hymn  in  the  tune  of  Old  Hundred, 
after  the  ancient  manner,  line  by  line.  The  society 
under  the  same  escort,  and  preceded  by  the  children 
of  the  several  schools,  then  proceeded  to  the  site  of 
the  proposed  building,  laid  the  corner  stone,  when  the 
venerable  President,  John  Watson,  Esq.,  recounted 
some  of  the  highly  valued  privileges  of  our  descent. 
He  expressed  his  gratitude  that  his  life  had  been  spared 
to  witness  these  solemnities  ;  and  after  the  filial  zeal 
of  the  present  generation  shall  be  attested,  in  the  com- 
pletion of  this  monument  'to  perpetuate  the  virtues  of 
the  pilgrims,'  he  would  say,  like  the  patriarch  of  old, 
JVow  let  thy  servant  depart  in  peace.  The  Rev.  Dr. 
Allyne  expressed  our  sense  of  dependence  on  the  Al- 
mighty architect  for  the  success  of  this,  and  all  our  la- 
bors, and  supplicated  a  divine  blessing.  Thus  in  good 
earnest  have  we  laid  the  foundation  of  '  a  monument 
to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  the  virtues,  the  enter- 
prise, and  unparalleled  sufferings  of  the  men  who  first 
settled  in  this  ancient  town,'  where  for  ages  their  de- 
scendants may  repair  and  trace  their  feeble  beginnings, 
and  contemplate  the  astonishing  results,  that  a  benefi- 
cent Deity  has  annexed  to  the  resolute,  unwearied, 
conscientious  performance  of  the  duties  of  piety  and 
benevolence. 

The  following  articles  were  deposited  in  an  exca- 
vation made  in  the  stone  for  that  purpose. 

Deposits. — Sermon  delivered  at  Plymouth  by  Rob- 
ert Cushman,  December  12th,  1621. 

First  Newspaper  printed  in  the  Old  Colony,  by 
Nathaniel  Coverly,  at  Plymouth,  in  1786. 

Coins  of  the  United  States,  and  of  Massachusetts. 

Odes  composed  for  the  Anniversary. 

Constitution  of  the  Pilgrim  Society,  and  the  Nanaes 
of  its  Members. 

Daniel  Webster's  Century  Oration  for  1820. 

Massachusetts  Register. 


264  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1824 

Old  Colony  Memorial  began  in  May,  1822,  by  Al- 
len Danforth. 

Columbian  Centinel,  by  Henjamin  Russell,  contain- 
ing an  account  of  the  entry  of  General  Lafayette  into 
the  city  of  Boston. 

Plate. — '  In  grateful  memory  of  our  ancestors,  who 
exiled  themselves  from  their  native  country,  for  the  sake 
of  religion,  and   here   successfully  laid  the  foundation 
of    Freedom    and   Empire,    December    xxii.    A.    D. 
MDCXX.  their  descendants,  the  Pilgrim  society,  have 
raised  this  edifice,  August  xxxi.  A.  D.  MDCCCXXIV. 
A.  Parris,  Architect. 
J.  &i  A.  S.  Taylor,  Builders. 
H.  Morse,  Sc' 

1824. — In  the  summer  of  the  present  year  a  general 
joy  was  diffused  though  the  United  States  by  the  ar- 
rival on  our  shores  of  that  illustrious  friend  of  our 
country  General  Lafayette.  All  ranks  of  people  and 
all  public  bodies  vied  in  homage  and  respect  to  this 
great  personage. 

The  morning  after  the  arrival  of  General  Lafayette 
in  Boston,  Dr.  Thatcher  called  on  him,  with  the  sub- 
joined letter  from  the  selectmen  of  Plymouth,  in  be- 
half of  the  citizens  of  the  town. 

'  Plymouth,  Mass.  August  2\st,  1824. 
'  General  Lafayette, 

'  Sir  :  the  inhabitants  of  this  town  cordially  unite  with 
their  fellow-citizens,  in  bidding  you  a  sincere  welcome 
to  the  United  States.  Living  on  the  spot  where  their 
ancestors,  the  founders  of  the  American  Republic, 
first  landed  and  settled,  the  inhabitants  cherish  a  deep 
interest  for  those  who  have  aided  the  cause  for  which 
they  emigrated  to  these  shores ;  which  cause  you, 
with  other  distinguished  friends  of  freedom,  successful- 
ly supported  through  the  perilous  period  of  the  revo- 
lutionary war.  The  privations  you  suffered,  and  the 
perils  and  hardships  you  encountered  during  that  inter- 
esting struggle,  in  leaving  your  home  and  country,  and 


1824]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  26.') 

exposing  your  life  to  the  dangers  of  the  American  camp 
for  the  freedom  and  independence  of  the  States,  justly 
entitle  you  to  the  lasting  gratitude  of  the  American 
people  ;  and  as  long  as  they  are  worthy  of  the  rich  and 
invaluable  blessing  they  now  enjoy,  they  cannot  fail 
of  looking  to  you  as  their  unwavering  benefactor. 

*  Should  it  be  convenient  to  you  before  leaving  the 
United  States,  to  visit  this  place,  the  inhabitants  will  be 
highly  gratified  in  having  the  pleasure  of  waiting  on 
you,  and  expressing  to  you  personally,  assurances  of 
their  gratitude  and  esteem.  In  behalf  of  the  inhabit- 
ants and  by  order  of  the  selectmen  of  Plymouth. 

'Z.  Sampson,  Chairman.^ 
Answer. 

*  Sir  :  Nothing  could  afford  me  a  greater  satisfaction 
than  to  have  the  honor  to  pay  my  respects  to  the  citi- 
zens of  Plymouth ;  nor  will  I  leave  the  shores  of 
America  before  1  have  enjoyed  this  heartfelt  gratifica- 
tion. But  my  present  first  visit  to  this  part  of  the 
Union  is  shortened  by  previous  engagements,  and  the 
obligation  to  go  towards  the  seat  of  government  at 
Washington  city.  I  anticipate  the  time  when  it  will 
be  in  my  power,  personally,  to  present  the  citizens  of 
Plymouth  with  my  grateful  and  affectionate  acknowl- 
edgments for  their  kindness  to  me.  Be  pleased  to 
accept  the  tribute  of  those  sentiments,  and  to  believe  me 
with  much  personal  regard  your  obedient  servant, 

'  Lafayette.' 

Second  letter  from  Gen.  Lafayette  to  the  selectmen. 

'  Washington,  February  5,  1825. 
^  Sir  :  On  the  point  of  beginning  a  long  journey 
through  the  Southern  and  Western  States,  I  anticipate 
the  time  of  next  summer,  when  1  will  return  to  the 
Northern  and  Eastern  parts  of  the  Union.  Happy  1 
will  be  if  1  can  present  the  people  of  Plymouth  with 
my  respectful  thanks,  and  pay  a  tribute  of  reverence 
to  the  first  spot  where  persecuted  patriots  did  seek  an 
23 


266  HISTORY  OF  Plymouth.  [1824 

asylum  which  they  now  offer  to  all  the  citizens  of 
European  despotism  and  aristocracy.  In  the  mean 
while  I  beg  you,  Sir,  to  accept,  and  to  offer  to  your 
fellow-citizens,  the  expression  of  my  deep  regards  and 
affectionate  respect.  Lafayette. 

'  Zeb.  Sampson,  Esq,^ 

In  town  meeting. — 'Whereas  Gen.  Lafayette  has  de- 
clared his  intention  of  visiting  this  town  the  ensuing 
summer,  it  becomes  peculiarly  incumbent  on  its  citi- 
zens, living  as  we  do,  in  the  very  birth-place  of  liberty, 
to  prepare  due  honors  for  the  man,  whose  eventful  life 
has  been  devoted  to  its  cause,  and  whom  ten  millions 
of  free  Americans  with  one  consent  have  delighted  to 
honor,  the  illustrious  guest  of  the  nation. 

Therefore,  voted,  to  appoint  a  committee  often,  to 
prepare  for  his  reception  in  a  manner  best  calculated 
to  show  to  him  and  the  public  our  grateful  sentiments 
on  this  joyous  occasion.  Voted,  that  the  selectmen 
be  authorized  to  draw  on  the  treasury  for  a  sum  suffi- 
cient to  cancel  the  expenses  thence  accruing.'  A  com- 
mittee of  ten  persons  was  accordingly  appointed,  and 
proper  arrangements  were  made  for  his  reception,  but 
for  want  of  time  he  was  obliged  to  dispense  with  his 
visit.  This  disappointment  was  greatly  regretted.  La- 
fayette would  have  been  received  here  with  emotions 
of  cordial  affection  and  profound  respect,  as  it  cannot 
be  doubted  that  he  cherished  an  interest  in  the  conse- 
crated asylum  of  those  aposdes  of  civil  and  religious 
freedom,  whom  we  glory  to  style  our  progenitors,  and 
who  were  animated  by  those  holy  principles  so  conge- 
nial to  his  own  heart.  How  gratifying  the  occasion, 
could  we  have  seen  this  great  man  step  on  the  Rock 
of  our  fathers;  the  sacred  monument  on  which  were 
imprinted  the  footsteps  of  the  anxious  pilgrims,  panting 
for  a  sanctuary  for  the  deposlte  of  their  heavenly  trust, 
the  Charter  of  Liberty  !  The  work  which  commenced 
in  1620,  nurtured  by   the  smiles  of  a  guardian  Provi- 


1824]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  267 

dence,  was  with  his  generous  assistance  consummated 
in  1781.  The  annals  of  our  revolution  and  the  few 
survivors  of  that  memorable  period,  bear  ample  testimo- 
ny to  the  ardor  and  devotion  which  he  displayed,  and 
the  noble  deeds  he  achieved  under  the  banners  of 
Washington  ;  and  millions  of  freemen  will  ever  cherish 
in  their  hearts  the  name  of  Lafayette. 

December. — On  the  22d  instant,  was  celebrated  the 
birth-day  of  New  England,  the  204th  anniversary,  by  the 
Pilgrim  Society.  The  day  was  welcomed  in  a  man- 
ner suited  to  the  greatness  of  the  occasion,  and  the  in- 
creasing interest  which  is  displayed  in  our  early  histo- 
ry. It  was  particularly  gratifying  to  the  inhabitants, 
that  so  mar.y  distinguished  characters  were  disposed 
to  resort  hither,  with  feelings  of  enthusiasm,  to  '  pay 
due  honors  to  the  urns  of  the  pilgrim  fathers  of  our 
race,'  and  to  participate  in  the  festivities  which  custom 
and  propriety  have  sanctioned,  as  appropriate  to  this 
ever  memorable  anniversary.  The  immense  crowd  of 
visitors  the  preceding  evening  filled  all  our  public 
houses,  and  the  private  mansions  were  thrown  open, 
that  all  might  be  accommodated.  The  evening  was 
pleasant,  and  lights  were  placed  at  the  windows,  which 
served  to  prevent  accident,  and  had  the  efiect  of  a  gen- 
eral illumination. 

At  the  early  dawn,  demonstrations  of  gratitude  and 
joy  commenced  by  the  ringing  of  bells  and  discharge 
of  cannon  from  the  ancient  '  Fort  Hill,'  and  soon  the 
streets  were  thronged  with  an  assemblage  of  citizens 
and  strangers,  more  numerous  than  usual  on  any  form- 
er anniversary.  There  were  some  peculiarities  in  the 
celebration  this  year,  by  which  public  anticipation  had 
been  highly  excited.  The  Pilgrim  Hall,  recently 
erected  to  the  memory  of  our  fathers,  the  beautiful 
paintings  of  Col.  Sargent,  which  adorned  its  wall,  and 
the  splendid  reputation  of  the  orator.  Professor  Ever- 
ett, combined  to  awaken  a  lively  interest  in  all  classes 
of  people.     Hence,  the  town  was  honored  by  visitors 


^8  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1824 

from  every  part  of  New  England,  many  from  New 
York,  and  several  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  distinction 
from  foreign  countries.  At  ten  o'clock,  the  Pilgrim 
Society  assembled  at  the  Hall,  where  the  noble  images 
of  our  ancestors  on  the  wall  attracted  universal  atten- 
tion. From  the  hall,  a  very  respectable  procession 
was  escorted,  by  the  Standish  Guards,  to  the  meeting- 
house, where  a  very  devotional  prayer  was  offered  by 
Rev.  Mr.  Kendall.  On  no  occasion,  perhaps,  have 
the  pious  effusions  of  the  heart  and  humble  petitions- 
been  uttered  with  greater  eloquence  or  more  powerful 
effect  on  an  audience.  Then  followed  a  masterly  dis- 
course by  Professor  Everett,  replete  with  instructive 
details  of  history,  of  pious  patriotism  and  glowing  effu- 
sions of  praise  towards  our  fathers,  for  the  unexampled 
intrepidity  and  fortitude  with  which  they  encowntererf 
their  peculiar  difficulties.  This  incomparable  perform- 
ance, with  which  all  were  delighted,  and  which  added 
to  the  well  earned  fame  of  its  author,  has  been  publish- 
ed. The  procession  returned  from  the  meeting  house 
to  the  Hall,  where  an  excellent  dinner  was  provided, 
and  enlivened  with  appropriate  songs  and  toasts.  The 
day  closed  with  a  splendid  and  fully  attended  ball. 
The  admirable  picture  of  the  landing  of  the  fathers,  by 
Col.  Sargent,  was  by  its  author  placed  in  the  Pilgrim 
Hall  at  this  celebration,  that  the  eye  as  well  as  the  ear 
and  the  intellect  might  be  gratified  on  this  interesting 
occasion.  A  writer  in  the  newspaper  says,  '  We  must 
do  Mr.  Sargent  the  justice  to  say,  that  be  has  not  dis- 
graced the  noble  story.  No,  the  grandeur  of  the  match- 
less undertaking  has  not  suffered  in  his  hands.  The 
whole  group  and  back  ground  of  this  picture,  indicate 
deep  thought,  successful  study,  and  equal  skill  in  the 
execution.  And  who  of  us,  descendants  of  the  intre- 
pid association,  can  look  at  the  picture  whhout  emotion  ? 
It  is  a  heart-moving  representation  of  the  patriarchs  of 
our  own  blessed  tribe,  now  spread  and  spreading 
throughout  this  vast  land  of  promise.  The  story,  as 
told  by  Mr.  Sargent  on  the  glowing  canvas,  is  truly 


1825]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  269 

affecting,  and  the  moral  dignified.  It  is  a  striking  pic- 
ture of  christian  heroism,  turning  its  back  on  regal  and 
ecclesiastical  folly  and  persecution.  The  picture  has  a 
special  reference  to  the  greatest  civil  event  in  the  re- 
cords of  the  human  race,  and  the  story  is  well  told  and 
well  painted.' 

March. — The  town  voted  to  receive  the  new  road  at 
Eel  river,  passing  by  the  cotton  factory  to  the  old 
Sandwich  road,  as  a  town  road. 

July. — The  anniversary  of  the  American  Independ- 
ence was  celebrated  in  this  town  in  a  manner  exceeding- 
ly gratifying  to  a  large  and  respectable  collection  of  citi- 
zens of  this  and  other  towns  in  the  county.  Salutes 
were  fired  from  Watson's  Hill  at  sunrise,  immediately 
after  the  services  in  the  meeting  house,  and  at  sunset, 
by  the  Plymouth  Artillery.  A  procession  of  citizens 
was  formed,  which  was  escorted  to  Rev.  Dr.  Kendall's 
meeting-house.  After  fervent  prayers  by  Dr.  Kendall, 
and  other  appropriate  religious  services,  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  was  read  by  Rev.  Mr.  Freeman,  and 
the  oration  was  delivered  by  William  Thomas,  Esq. 
'  It  was  a  concise,  elegant  and  comprehensive  produc- 
tion, illustrating  in  a  highly  interesting  manner  the  feel- 
ings, principles  and  events  connected  with  the  revolu- 
tion, tracing  their  origin  from  the  earliest  periods  of 
English  history  to  the  eventful  fourth  of  July,  1776.' 
After  the  services  of  the  sanctuary,  the  company  re- 
turned in  procession  to  Pilgrim  Hall,  where  upwards 
of  two  hundred  partook  of  a  sumptuous  dinner,  at 
which  the  Hon.  William  Davis  presided. 

William  Goodwin,  Esq.  died  July  seventeenth,  1825, 
aged  sixty-nine  years.  He  was  son  of  a  respectable 
merchant  in  this  town.  It  was  his  misfortune,  to  labor 
under  great  bodily  infirmities  during  many  years,  but 
his  mind  was  active  and  intelligent.  In  the  offices  of 
assessor  and  selectman,  he  was  ever  found  faithful, 
and  was  esteemed  a  man  of  public  integrity  and  use- 
fulness. He  held  the  office  of  post-master  for  several 
23* 


270  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1826 

years,  and  was  cashier  of  Plymouth  Bank  from  Its  first 
establishment  till  his  death.  He  married  Lydia,  the 
eldest  daughter  of  Captain  Simeon  Sampson,  of  this 
town,  and  they  were  parents  of  five  sons  and  two 
daughters,  all  of  whom  are  living,  except  William,  a 
respectable  and  intelligent  merchant,  who  died  at  Ha- 
vanna,  December  fifteenth,  1821,  aged  thirty-eight 
years.  Mr.  Goodwin  married  for  his  second  wife  the 
widow  of  Rev.  Mr.  Briggs  of  Chatham,  who  was  also  a 
daughter  of  Captain  S.  Sampson,  and  who  still  sur- 
vives. 

1826.  January  5. — Died  in  this  town  Hon.  William 
Davis.  '  This  gentleman  has  been  long  and  exten- 
sively known  and  esteemed,  as  a  respectable  merchant. 
To  this  line  of  life  he  was  early  devoted,  and  the  few 
simple  principles  to  which  he  adhered,  industry,  pro- 
bity and  perseverance,  made  his  successful  course  an 
instructive  example,  and,  united  with  many  kindred  vir- 
tues, rendered  him  a  valued  and  endeared  member  of 
the  community.  He  was  cordially  attached  to  his  na- 
tive town,  and  engaged  with  unwearied  assiduity,  in 
the  various  municipal  labors,  to  which  he  was  called 
in  early  life,  and  which,  for  many  successive  years, 
were  assigned  to  him.  He  occasionally  represented 
the  town  in  general  court,  and  in  the  years  1812  and 
1813,  was  a  member  of  the  executive  council.  Polit- 
ical distinction,  however,  was  never  an  object  of  his 
pursuit,  and  to  calls  of  this  character  he  always  yielded 
with  reluctance.  From  the  faithful  and  discreet  dis- 
charge of  his  various  duties,  from  the  numerous  em- 
ployments which  his  activity  and  energy  produced  or 
promoted,  from  his  animating  influence  to  encourage 
exertion  in  others,  and  the  habitual  interest  which  he 
manifested  in  its  successful  issue,  he  was  an  impor- 
tant member  of  the  circle  in  which  he  moved,  and  his 
death  has  left  a  void  which  may  not  be  readily  suppli- 
ed, and  has  filled  many  hearts  with  sadness.  Hi& 
cheerful  temper  and  social  habits,  and  the  facility  with 


1826]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  271 

which  his  sympathies  became  accommodated  to  the 
situation  and  feelings  of  others,  made  his  company  and 
conversation  always  acceptable  to  persons  of  every  age 
and  condition.'  Mr.  Davis  was  president  of  Plymouth 
Bank,  from  its  first  institution  till  his  death,  and  in  no 
instance  perhaps  has  a  similar  institution  been  more 
judiciously  conducted.  He  was,  for  about  thirty  years, 
a  'member  of  our  board  of  selectmen,  and  was  a  zeal- 
ous advocate  of  the  welfare  and  prosperity  of  the  vari- 
ous civil  and  religious  institutions  of  his  native  town. 
He  was,  at  his  death,  vice-president  of  the  Pilgrim  So- 
ciety, and  ever  manifested  an  ardent  interest  in  its 
prosperity. 

Mr.  Davis  married  Rebecca  Morton,  who  still  sur- 
vives, and  their  surviving  children  are  Nathaniel  Mot- 
ten,  Thomas,  and  Betsy,  who  is  now  the  widow  of  Al- 
exander Bliss,  Esq.  William,  the  oldest  son,  was  cut  off 
in  the  midst  of  his  career  of  enterprise  and  usefulness, 
March  1 824,  in  the  fort3^-first  year  of  his  age. 

1826.  February  1. — Died  John  Watson,  Esq.,  aged 
seventy-eight.  He  graduated  at  Harvard  college  in 
1766,  and  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Old  Colony 
Club  in  1769,  and  the  last  surviving  member  of  that 
association  of  worthies.  He  was  the  first  vice-presi- 
dent of  the  Pilgrim  Society,  and  after  the  death  of 
Judge  Thomas,  the  president,  was  elected  to  fill  that 
oflice,  which  he  held  till  his  death.  Mr.  Watson  was 
the  proprietor  of  Clark's  Island,  where  he  resided  dur- 
ing about  forty  years  of  his  life.  To  that  spot  he 
always  felt  a  peculiar  attachment,  as  affording  antiqua- 
rian associations,  in  which  he  delighted  to  indulge,  and 
to  recount  to  his  family  and  friends.  He  left  many 
sons  and  daughters,  of  respectable  standing  in  life. 

July. — The  fiftieth  anniversary  of  our  national  inde- 
pendence was  celebrated  by  the  inhabitants  of  this 
town,  in  unison  with  a  respectable  assemblage  of  fellow 
citizens  from  other  towns  in  the  county.  The  day 
was  ushered  in  by  the  ringing  of  bells  and   the  firing 


272  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1828 

of  a  national  salute  by  the  Plymouth  Artillery.  This 
was  a  county  celebration,  in  which  were  united  all  par- 
ties and  sects  in  the  most  perfect  harmony,  for  what 
spirits  will  not  harmonize  while  in  the  cradle  of  our 
country's  liberty  ?  At  1 1  o'clock,  a  procession  was 
formed  in  Court-square,  from  whence  they  proceeded, 
under  a  military  escort  to  the  meeting  house  of  the 
first  parish,  the  Town-square  being  handsomely  decora- 
ted with  national  flags,  spread  among  the  branches  of 
the  majestic  elm  trees.  '  Prayers  were  ofTered  by 
Rev.  Dr.  Kendall,  in  a  strain  of  warm  and  patriotic 
feeling  and  grateful  devotion.'  The  DeclaraUon  of  In- 
dependence was  read  by  Charles  J.  Holmes,  Esq.,  of 
Rochester,  and  an  oration  pronounced  by  Charles  H. 
Warren,  Esq.,  of  New  Bedford,  in  handsome  style,  and 
appropriate  to  the  occasion.  After  which  a  company 
of  about  three  hundred  and  fifty  persons  sat  down  to 
an  elegant  dinner  at  which  Hon.  John  Thomas,  of 
Kingston,  presided.'  The  amusements  of  the  day  were 
concluded  by  a  pleasant  ball  at  Pilgrim  Hall  in  the 
evening. 

JVovember. — It  having  been  discovered  that  consid- 
erable injury  has  been  done  to  Plymouth  beach  by 
carrying  off"  sand  and  sea-weed  from  the  contiguous 
flats,  and  that,  within  a  few  years  past,  it  has  been  the 
practice  to  take  sand  from  said  flats,  for  the  purpose 
of  manufacturing  glass,  the  town  petitioned  the  general 
court  to  pass  a  law  prohibiting  such  trespasses  in  fu- 
ture. 

1828. — Hon.  Zabdiel  Sampson,  Esq.,  expired  in 
this  town  July  19th.  He  was  a  native  of  Plympton,  but 
resided  in  Plymouth  during  the  several  last  years  of 
his  life.  He  was  graduated  at  Brown  University  in 
1 803,  and  devoted  himself  to  the  study  of  the  law,  but 
was  not  long  a  pleader  at  the  bar.  In  the  year  1816, 
he  was  elected  by  this  district  a  representative  to  con- 
gress, and  in  1820  was  appointed  collector  of  the  cus- 
toms for  the  port  of  Plymouth,  which  he  retained  till 


1828]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  273 

his  deatli.  He  was  for  several  years  clinlrman  of  the 
board  of  selectmen  in  this  town,  and  in  the  several  offi- 
ces which  he  sustained,  he  was  found  diligent  and  faith- 
ful, and  in  moral  virtue  was  exemplary. 

October  9th. — Died,  Nathaniel  Lothrop,  M.  D. 
aged  ninety-one.  'Dr  Lothrop  was  of  the  fifth  gen- 
eration from  his  respectable  ancestor,  John  Lothrop. 
He  graduated  at  Harvard  University,  at  the  head  of 
the  class  of  1756  ;  and,  before  his  decease,  was  the  on- 
ly surviving  graduate,  except  the  venerable  Dr.  Hol- 
yoke,  of  Salem,  of  the  long  list  of  Alumni  of  Al- 
ma Mater,  included  within  the  years  1740  and  1759. 
For  a  considerable-  time,  he  stood  far  in  advance,  in 
point  of  age,  of  any  other  person  in  this  place.  He 
survived  all  the  companions  and  associates  of  his  early 
(lays  in  his  native  town,  outlived  the  dearest  of  his  do- 
mestic comforts,  which  had  been  his  joy  and  delight, 
and  was  suffered  to  continue  until  even  the  desire  of 
life  in  respect  to  himself  had  failed.  A  sacred  regard 
to  the  dying  request  of  the  venerable  deceased  forbids 
us  to  enlarge  ;  we  will  only  add,  while  we  cherish  with 
respect  and  veneration  the  remembrance  of  his  virtues, 
that  like  an  ancient  patriarch  he  died  in  a  good  old 
age,  an  old  man,  and  full  of  years,  and  was  gathered 
to  his  fathers.'  It  should  be  gratefully  noticed  and 
remembered  that  Dr.  Lothrop  gave  a  legacy  of  $500 
to  the  Pilgrim  Society,  toward  completing  the  edifice. 

The  208th  anniversary  of  the  landing  of  the  pil- 
grims was  noticed  by  a  private  celebration  on  the 
22d  of  December.  A  number  of  gendemen  of  the 
town  dined  at  the  hotel,  at  which  Major  Joseph 
Thomas  presided  ;  and,  besides  '  the  feast  of  shells,' 
the  company  enjoyed  the  anecdote,  the  song,  and  the 
toast,  as  reminiscences  of  olden  times. 

This  anniversary  was  also  celebrated  by  religious 
services  in  the  meeting-house  of  the  third  parish ; 
where  the  Rev.  Lyman  Beecher,  D.  D.,  of  Boston, 
delivered  a  sermon,  which  attracted  much  attention,  as 


274  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1829 

coming  from  '  a  strong  and  vigorous  mind,  and  abound- 
ing with  practical  and  liberal  remarks.' 

1829.  July  lOth. — Died,  suddenly,  Samuel  Davis, 
Esq.  aged  64.  Mr.  Davis  was  truly  an  antiquarian  ; 
and  few  men  within  our  social  circle,  possessed  a 
greater  fund  of  correct  information  relative  to  the 
character  and  circumstances  of  our  primitive  fathers. 
He  was,  says  the  writer  of  an  obituary  notice,  '  the 
man  to  whom  the  inquisitive  stranger  was,  by  all  of 
us,  promptly  referred.  There  was  an  accuracy  and 
precision  in  the  habit  of  his  mind,  that  made  ail  his 
minute  and  curious  information  perfectly  to  be  relied 
on.  He  was  what  the  world  would  call  a  man  of  lei- 
sure ;  but  this  leisure  was  no  ignoble  escape  from 
thought;  but  was  usually  employed,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  a  cultivated  taste,  amid  scenery  and  resources 
exactly  adapted  to  its  full  gratification.  He  loved  the 
characters  of  the  pilgrims.  He  loved  to  trace  out 
their  original  allotments,  their  first  rude  dwellings.  He 
knew  their  sons  and  daughters,  their  intermarriages, 
their  changes  of  abode,  the  living  branches  and  the 
scions,  that  became  new  stocks  in  the  most  distant 
states.*  Of  all  these  things  he  made  copious  memo- 
randa. It  is  easy  to  infer  the  moral  traits  of  an  intel- 
lectual man,  who,  fond  of  history  and  biography,  yet 
turned  with  disgust  from  the  Caesars,  the  Charleses, 
and  Napoleons,  and  for  thirty  years  persevered  with 
delight  in  learning  the  minutest  particulars  of  men  like 
the  pilgrims.  The  reader  would  be  sure  that  he  had, 
in  the  proper  use  of  the  word,  simplicity  of  mind;  that 
he  was  unostentatious,  and  meek,  and  pure,  and  a 
lover  of  good  men  of  every  age  and  clime.     If  he  had 

*  On  one  of  the  days  of  our  anniversary,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Pierce 
having  been  for  some  time  in  conversation  with  Mr.  Davis,  a  num- 
ber of  clergymen  entered  the  room  ;  the  Dr,  said  '  Gentlemen,  this 
is  Mr.  Davis,  who  can  tell  us  all  where  we  came  from.'  Mr.  D. 
promptly  replied, '  Gentlemen,  this  is  Dr.  Pierce,  who  can  tell  us 
all  where  we  are  going  to.' 


1830]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  275 

peculiarities,  they  did  not  arise  out  of  disordered  af- 
fections, or  from  bitter  ingredients  in  the  composition 
of  his  mind  ;  but  were  the  natural  2;rovvth  of  a  life  of 
celibacy,  and  seclusion  of  a  mind  less  forcibly  acted 
upon  than  most  others,  by  the  events  and  prevalent 
passions  of  the  times  he  lived  in.' 

The  manner  of  his  death  was  remarkable.  Having 
walked  out  in  the  evening  he  retired  to  his  chamber 
about  ten  o'clock,  his  usual  hour,  and  made  an  entry  in 
his  diary,  of  the  state  of  the  weather.  At  breakfast 
time  the  next  morning  he  was  found  a  corpse,  his  arms 
folded  on  his  breast  without  any  indication  that  depart- 
ing life  had  occasioned  the  least  struggle,  so  tranquil 
was  the  end  of  his  peaceful  life. 

*  From  life  on  earth  our  pensive  friend  retires, 
His  dust  commingling  with  the  piigrim  sires  ; 
In  thoughtful  walks  their  every  path  he  traced, 
Their  toils  their  tombs  his  faithful  page  embraced  ; 
Peaceful  and  pure  and  innocent  as  they, 
With  them  to  rise  to  everlasting  day.' 

J  830. — Died  in  this  town  June  4th.  Hon.  Beza 
Hay  ward,  Esq.,  aged  78  years.  He  was  a  native  of 
Bridgewater,  and  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in 
1772,  and  devoted  himself  to  the  study  of  theology. 
When  he  commenced  the  clerical  profession,  the  civil 
affairs  of  our  country  wer^  involved  in  the  greatest 
confusion  by  the  opposition  to  the  oppressive  measures 
of  parliament,  and  there  was  no  encouragement  for 
young  clergymen.  Being  compelled  to  relinquish  his 
profession,  he  became  a  teacher  of  a  school  for  the 
higher  branches  of  education.  In  this  employment  he 
continued  for  several  years,  when  he  was  chosen  tore- 
present  his  native  town  in  the  legislature,  and  subse- 
quently was  elected  into  the  senate,  and  afterwards  a 
member  of  the  council  board.  Patriotism,  public  vir- 
tue and  love  of  order  were  eminent  traits  in  his  char- 
acter.    He  possessed  a  peculiar  tact  for  mathematical 


276  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1830 

calculations,  and  was  much  relied  on  for  accuracy  of 
results,  when  for  many  months  he  was  employed  on 
committees  of  valuation  in  the  legislature.  In  the  year 
1808  he  was  appointed  register  of  probate  for  the 
cofjpty  of  Plymouth,  which  office  ho  sustained  till  his 
death,  and  acquitted  himself  honorably  of  its  duties. 
In  the  domestic  circle,  and  as  a  magistrate  he  was  re- 
spected for  probity,  strict  integrity  and  impartial  jus- 
tice. Under  bereavement  the  virtues  of  meekness,  hu- 
mility and  pious  resignation  were  graciously  exem- 
plified in  his  demeanor.  His  descendants  are  Susan 
and  John. 

July  6th. — The  wife  of  Captain  William  Holmes 
was  killed  by  lightning,  while  in  her  house  ;  no  other 
person  was  injured,  but  the  house  was  greatly  shat- 
tered. 

December. — We  have  again  been  called  to  com- 
memorate the  day  so  greatly  endeared  to  the  hearts  of 
the  descendants  of  the  pilgrim  fathers. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Pilgrim  Society,  a  communica- 
tion was  read  from  Hon.  Judge  Davis,  announcing  a 
donation  of  fifty  copies  of  his  edition  of  the  New  Eng- 
land Memorial. 

The  usual  demonstrations  of  joy,  by  bells  and  can- 
non were  put  in  requisition  at  the  early  dawn.  The 
procession  was  extended  by  a  numerous  assemblage  of 
patrons  and  friends  to  our  institution,  from  various  parts 
of  New  England.  The  customary  religious  services 
commenced  by  the  hymn,  '  Let  children  learn  the 
mighty  deeds,'  and  the  ode  '  Sons  of  renowned  sires,' 
after  which  the  prayer  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gannett,  of 
Boston,  which  was  appropriate  and  impressive,  devoutly 
acknowledging  God's  agency  and  goodness  in  giving  the 
pilgrim's  counsel  by  the  calm  wisdom  of  age,  hope  by 
the  warm  enthusiasm  of  youth,  and  perseverance  by  the 
strength  of  manhood. 

The  oration  was  delivered  by  the  Hon.  William 
Sullivan,  which  commanded  deep  and  silent  attention. 


1831]  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  277 

It  was  indeed  an  able  and  peculiarly  instructive  perform- 
ance, teeming  with  just  praises  of  the  character  and 
principles  of  our  ancestors,  and  calculated  to  animate 
and  inspire  the  whole  assembly  with  a  share  of  that 
enthusiastic  spirit  which  came  warm  from  the  heart  of 
the  speaker.  Tiiis  oration  has  been  published  with 
copious  notes  annexed,  and  adds  honor  to  the  name  of 
Sullivan,  so  well  known  in  history,  in  literature  and  in 
science.  After  the  oration,  the  closing  hymn,  '  Hail 
pilgrim  fathers  of  our  race,'  was  read  line  by  line,  and 
sung  in  the  tune  of  Old  Hundred. 

The  assembly  in  procession  returned  to  the  Pilgrim 
Hall,  where  upwards  of  200  persons  sat  down  to  a 
splendid  dinner.  Alden  Bradford,  Esq.,  president  of 
the  Pilgrim  Society,  was  seated  in  the  arm  chair  of 
English  oak,  which  came  over  with  the  first  settlers,  and 
belonged  to  Lieut.  Gov.  W.  Bradford,  The  hall  was 
decorated  by  the  ladies  with  evergreens  in  a  tasteful 
manner.  The  names  of  six  of  the  v^^orthies  of  the 
Mayflower,  ingeniously  made  with  evergreens,  were 
placed  on  the  walls,  four  on  each  side  and  two  in  front. 
In  the  evening  the  hall  exhibited  a  most  splendid  as- 
semblage of  youth,  beauty  and  reverend  age,  mingling 
in  one  common  scene  of  innocent,  rational  and  grateful 
festivity.  The  orchestra  in  the  hall  was  filled  with  a  fine 
band  of  music. 

1831. — Anniversary  Commemoration. — There  is  a 
standing  vote  of  the  first  parish  in  Plymouth,  that  they 
will  annually  solemnize  by  religious  services  the  anni- 
versary of  the  landing  of  our  forefathers,  except  when 
the  Pilgrim  Society  shall  take  the  celebration  on  them- 
selves. They  feel  the  duty  peculiarly  incumbent  upon 
them,  since  they  are  united  with  the  first  church  plant- 
ed in  New  England  ;  even  that  church  which  recog- 
nizes the  puritans  from  Leyden  as  their  legitimate 
founders  ;  and  moreover,  our  sanctuary  occupies  the 
area  which  they  selected  for  the  place  of  their  worship. 
It  is,  therefore,  the  altar  of  this  sanctuary  from  wliicli 
24 


278  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1832 

ascriptions  of  gratitude  and  praise  should  annually  as- 
cend for  our  heavenly  bequest. 

According  to  arrangements  previously  made,  a  nu- 
merous and  highly  respectable  assembly  convened  on 
the  22d  of  December,  in  the  new  church  of  the  first 
parish,  for  divine  service.  'The  Rev.  Mr.  Cole,  of 
Kingston,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Goodwin,  of  Concord,  offered 
our  thanksgivings  and  supplications  in  a  spirit  and 
manner  worthy  the  interesting  occasiouc'  The  Rev. 
Mr.  Brazer,  of  Salem,  delivered  a  discourse  peculiarly 
appropriate,  which  attracted  universal  attention,  from 
Psalm  XXX.  8  and  9.  It  was  fraught  with  interest- 
ing intelligence  and  with  filial  affection.  How  can  we 
best  honor  the  fathers,  and  in  what  way  shall  we  best 
cherish  their  memory  ?  This  inquiry  was  awakening 
to  the  feelings  of  the  audience,  and  the  discussions  of 
the  eloquent  speaker  delighted  the  understandings  of 
those  who  love  to  cherish  the  puritan  character.  We 
regret  that  the  author  declines  communicating  his 
talented  performance  to  the  public.  This  anniversary 
was  at  the  same  time  commemorated  in  the  meeting- 
house of  the  third  parish  in  this  town.  The  Rev.  Dr. 
John  Codman,  of  Dorchester,  was  invited  to  perform 
the  solemnities  on  the  occasion.  This  sermon  has  been 
published,  and  is  honorable  to  the  author,  interesting 
to  the  antiquarian,  and  to  the  admirers  of  the  puritan 
character.  A  sermon  was  preached  also  before  the 
Robinson  church  and  society,  by  Rev.  Mr.  Cobb,  of 
Taunton. 

1832. —  Centennial  Anniversarxj  of  the  hirth-day  of 
Washington.  February. — The  centennial  birth-day  of 
Washington,  so  peculiarly  interesting  to  the  whole 
population  of  the  United  States  was  celebrated  on  the 
22d  instant,  by  the  patriotic  young  men  in  this  town, 
with  commendable  ardor  and  reverence.  The  bells 
and  cannon  first  announced  the  day,  and  pioclaimed 
the  meridian  and  decline  of  the  sun.  There  was  a 
very  general  attendance  on  the  public  exhibitions,  and 


1832]  HISsTORi-    OF    PLYMOUTH.  279 

exercises  of  the  clay.  An  ornamental  arch  was  erect- 
ed in  Town-square,  with  an  inscription, '  February  2-2d, 
1832,  Washington's  Birth-day,'  surrounded  by  an  ea- 
gle, and  tastefully  decorated  with  flags,  which  were  al- 
so suspended  in  the  streets  dn-ough  which  the  proces- 
sion passed.  A  procession  was  formed  in  Court-square 
in  tke  morning,  which  proceeded  to  the  house  of  wor- 
ship of  the  first  parish,  where  divine  service  was  per- 
formed. The  ministers  of  the  several  denominations 
in  town  were  seated  in  the  pulpit.  The  services  con- 
sisted of  a  prayer  by  Rev.  Dr.  Kendall,  reading  Wash- 
ington's Farewell  Address  by  Rev.  Mr.Bugbee  ;  when 
an  oration  was  delivered  by  Hon.  Solomon  Lincoln, 
;  which  was  received  with  much  applause  by  a  crowd- 
ed audience.  In  portraying  the  character  of  the  illus- 
trious chief  from  his  earliest  days,  the  orator  in  elo- 
quent language  displayed  a  judicious  selection  of  traits 
and  incidents  which  were  so  pre-eminendy  conspicu- 
ous, and  wisely  exerted  for  the  honor  and  glory  of  our 
Empire.  The  services  of  the  sanctuary  being  closed 
by  a  prayer  by  Rev.  Mr.  Freeman,  the  procession,  es- 
corted by  the  Standish  Guards  and  the  Plymouth  Artil- 
lery, proceeded  to  Pilgrim  Hall,  where  more  than  two 
hundred  gentlemen  partook  of  a  sumptuous  dinner. 
Isaac  L.  Hedge,  Esq.,  presiding.  After  the  festival, 
sendments  and  toasts  were  announced,  actcompanied 
with  music  from  the  Plymouth  Band.  In  the  evening 
a  ball  was  attended  by  a  large  assemblage  of  gentle- 
men and  ladies,  and  most  of  the  houses  in  town  were 
handsomely  illuminated. 

There  is  a  singular  felicity  in  discovering  proofs  of 
patriotism  and  public  virtue  in  those  who  are  soon  to 
be  called  to  the  places  of  such  of  the  present  genera- 
tion as  are  rapidly  passing  from  the  stage  of  life  and 
usefulness.  Much  of  the  welilire  and  prosperity  of 
our  great  republic,  depend  on  the  purity  of  principle, 
and  sentiment  maintained  by  the  rising  generation  :  on 
them  devolve  not  only  the  honor  and  character  of  our 


280  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1832 

nation,  but  the  prosperity  and  happiness  of  generations 
to  come.  For  lessons  of  instruction,  we  trust  they 
will  look  to  the  eventful  lives,  and  the  examples  of 
those  virtuous  men  who  have  finished  their  earthly  ca- 
reer, and  are  gathered  to  their  fathers  ;  ever  bearing 
in  precious  remembrance  the  heavenly-minded  pil- 
grims of  1620,  and  the  glorious  patriots  and  sages*  of 
1776,  by  whose  toils  and  sacrifices,  under  Providence, 
we  enjoy  the  noblest  earthly  inheritance.  May  our 
young  men  be  directed  to  discern  the  true  interest  of 
their  country,  and  be  cordially  united  in  its  pursuit, 
and  may  they,  like  their  illustrious  progenitors,  be  re- 
nowned for  their  love  of  the  church,  and  for  a  pious 
attachment  to  the  genuine  principles  of  freedom  and 
the  rights  of  man  ;  cherishing  with  pious  ardor  that 
excellent  constitution  given  them  by  their  renowned 
sires,  nor  hastily  fritter  away  its  principles  with  the 
Tain  expectation  of  improvement. 

Young  Men,  sons  of  the  Patriarchs  1  you  have  vir- 
tue for  your  inheritance  ;  if  you  are  disposed  to  be  en- 
thusiastic on  any  object,  let  your  ardent  enthusiasm 
fee  directed  to  Temperance  Societies. 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 


Just  men  they  were,  and  all  their  stuuy  benl, 

To  worship  God  aright,  and  linow  his  works 

Not  hid  ;  nor  those  things  last,  which  might  preserve 

Freedom  and  peace  to  man. 

The  first  chiirch  in  New  England,  founded  at  Ply- 
mouth, in  1620,  was  a  part  of  the  dmi^h  under  the 
pastoral  care  of  the  celebrated   John  Robinson,  the 
members  of  which,  in  consequence  of  the  cruel  perse- 
cution in  their  native  country,  (England,)  for  their  non- 
conformity, had  exited  themselves  to  Leyden,  in  Hol- 
land, where  they  had  resided   eleven   years.     Tney 
were  dissatisfied  with  their  situation  among  the  Dutch, 
and  solicitous  to  find  a  country  where  they  might  en- 
ioy  their  worship  and  their  opinions,  according  to  their 
iL  principles  of  christian  liberty    ""'""^^^j^'^;     Af- 
ter the  most  mature  deliberation   they  resolved  to  em  - 
grate  to  the  unexplored  shores,  the  unmhabued  wilder- 
Ls  of  America,\vell  aware  that  ^^'\f'^'°"l"^^ 
virtue  might  make  the  wilderness  and  solitary  place  to 
be  glad,  and  the  desert  to  rejoice  and  olossom  as  the 


Their  agents,  employed  to  negotiate  in  England  for 
a  territory  for  settlement,  described,  in  touchmg  lan- 
LaTe  their  feelings  and  the  reasons  which  mdi.ced 
fhem  lo  en  igrate  ^hat  they  were  well  weaned  from 
he  delicate  milk  of  their  mother  country,  and  inured 
,0  the  difficulties  of  a  strange  land  ;  that  they  were 
knit  together  in  a  strict  and  sacred  bond,  by  whiob 


282  ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY  [1620 

they  held  themselves  bound  to  take  care  of  the  good 
of  each  other  and  of  the  whole  ;  no  small  things  would 
discourage  them,  or  make  them  wish  to  return  home. 
They  had  acquired  habits  of  frugality,  industry,  and 
self-denial,  and  were  united  in  a  solemn  covenant,  by 
which  they  were  bound  to  seek  the  welfare  of  the 
whole  company,  and  of  every  individual  person.  Tlie 
letters  also  contained  an  exposition  of  their  religious 
creed,  as  agreeing  with  the  French  reformed  churches 
In  faith  and  discipline,  and  differing  only  in  some  inci- 
dental points.  But  they  renounced  all  right  of  human 
invention,  or  imposition  in  religious  matters,  not  build- 
ing their  hopes  on  ceremonial  observances  and  on  sys- 
tems of  worship.  They  were  actuated  by  '  a  natural 
and  pious  desire  of  perpetuating  a  church  which  they 
believed  to  be  constituted  after  the  simple  and  pure 
model  of  the  primitiv^e  church  of  Christ;  and  a  com- 
mendable zeal  to  propagate  the  gospel  in  the  region  of 
the  new  world.'  They  employed  Mr.  Robert  Cush- 
man  and  Mr.  John  Carver,  as  their  first  agents  in  1617, 
to  the  Virginia  Company,  and  to  obtain  security  from  the 
king  for  religious  freedom  in  their  proposed  settlement. 
They  met  with  many  impediments,  and  returned  in 
May,  1618,  with  encouragement  from  the  Virginia  Com- 
pany relative  to  a  grant  of  territory,  and  a  promise  on 
the  part  of  the  crown,  '  that  the  king  would  connive  at 
them  and  not  molest  thpm,  provided  that  they  carried 
peaceably ;'  but  toleration  would  not  be  granted  by 
public  authority  under  his  seal. 

In  February,  1619,  Mr.  Cushman  and  Mr.  Bradford 
were  dispatched  on  the  same  business.  After  long  at- 
tendance they  obtained  a  patent,  which  was  then  taken 
out  in  the  name  of  John  Wincob,  a  religious  gentleman 
in  the  family  of  the  Countess  of  Lincoln,  who  intended 
to  accompany  them,  but  was  providentially  prevented. 
Thus  this  patent  was  never  used,  being  carried  howev- 
er to  Ley  den  for  the  people  to  consider,  with  several 
proposals  for  their  transmigration,  made  by  Mr.  Thomas 


1620]  OF  PLYMOUTH.  283 

Weston,  of  London,  and  other  friends  and  merchants  as 
should  either  go  or  adventure  with  them  ;  they  were 
requested  to  prepare  with  speed  for  tlie  voyage.' 
— Bradford's  MS.  History  quoted  by  Princa. 

The  patent  which  they  obtained,  was  altogether  in- 
adeijuate  to  their  wants  and  desires  ;  but  they  resolved, 
nevertlieless,  to  commit  themselves,  in  faith  and  confi- 
dence, to  the  arm  of  Almighty  power,  and  to  encoun- 
ter the  perils  of  the  ocean.  We  learn  by  Dr.  Belknap, 
that  the  particular  sentiments,  as  to  ecclesiastical  gov- 
ernment, which  were  held  b)  the  church  over  which 
Mr;  Robinson  was  pastor,  and  which  had  a  peculiar  in- 
fluence upon  the  conduct  and  character  of  the  settlers 
of  Plymouth,  have  been  comprised  under  the  following 
heads  : 

1.  That  no  church  ought  to  consist  of  more  mem- 
bers than  can  conveniently  meet  together  for  worship 
and  discipline. 

2.  That  every  church  of  Christ  is  to  consist  only  of 
such  as  appear  to  believo  in  and  obey  him. 

3.  That  any  competent  number  of  such,  have  a  right, 
when  conscience  obliges  them,  to  form  themselves  in- 
to a  distinct  church. 

4.  That  this  incorporation  is,  by  some  contract  or 
covenant,  express  or  implied. 

5.  That  being  thus  incorporated,  they  have  a  right 
to  choose  their  own  officers. 

6.  That  these  officers  are  pastors,  or  teaching  eld- 
ers, ruling  elders,  and  deacons. 

7.  That  elders,  being  chosen  and  ordained,  have  a 
power  to  rule  the  church,  but  by  consent  of  the  breth- 
ren. 

8.  That  all  elders  and  all  churches  are  equal  in  res- 
pect of  powers  and  privileges. 

9.  With  respect  to  ordinances,  they  hold,  that  bap- 
tism is  to  be  administered  to  visible  believers  and  their 
infant  children,  but  they  admitted  only  the  children  of 
communicants  to  baptism.     That  the  Lord's  supper 


284  ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY  [1620 

is  to  be  received  sitting  at  the  table,  (whilst  they  were 
in  Holland  they  received  it  every  Lord's  day.)  That 
ecclesiastical  censures  were  wholly  spiritual,  and  not  to 
be  accompanied  with  tenaporal  penalties. 

10.  They  admitted  no  holy-days  but  the  christian 
sabbath,  though  they  had  occasional  days  of  fasting  and 
thanksgiving ;  and,  finally,  they  renounced  all  right  of 
human  invention  and  imposition  in  religious  matters. 

Having  sold  their  estates  in  Holland  and  put  the  pro- 
ceeds into  a  common  fund,  they  began  to  make  pre- 
parations for  their  departure  ;  but  so  entirely  were  their 
minds  devoted  to  religious  contemplation  and  pious  ex- 
ercises, that  no  secular  concerns  could  be  transacted 
without  first  offering  their  aspirations  to  Heaven  for 
guidance.  The  aid  of  the  Lord  w^as  invoked  with  sin- 
cerity and  in  faith,  in  all  their  worldly  concerns.  Great- 
ly, indeed,  were  they  strengthened  and  encouraged  by 
the  glorious  example  and  fervent  prayers  of  the 
venerated  pastor. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  year  1620,  Robinson  deliv- 
ered a  discourse,  the  object  of  which  was,  to  strength- 
en and  confirm  the  resolution  of  those  who  were  about 
to  go  to  America.  They  had  ascertained  that  a 
majority  of  the  congregation  were  inclined  to  emigrate, 
but  all  who  had  come  to  that  determination  could  not 
immediately  prepare  themselves  for  the  voyage-;  those 
who  remained,  (being  the  majority)  required  of  Rob- 
inson that  he  should  stay  with  them,  and  proposed 
that  Brewster,  the  ruling  elder,  should  go  with  the 
minority ;  and  such  was  the  final  arrangement.  The 
minority  were  to  be  an  absolute  church  of  themselves, 
as  well  as  those  who  should  stay,  v;ith  the  proviso^ 
that  as  any  should  go  over  or  return,  they  should  be 
reputed  as  members,  without  further  dismission  or  tes- 
timonial. The  others  intended  to  follow  as  soon  as 
circumstances  would  permit. 

In  July  of  the  same  year,  they  kept  another  solemn 
day  of  prayer,  and  Mr.  Robinson   again  preached    to 


1620]  OF    PLYMOUTH.  285 

them ;  selecting  for  his  text  the  very  appropriate 
words  in  Ezra,  chap.  viii.  verse  21.  'I  proclaimed  a 
fast  at  the  river  Ahava,  that  we  might  afflict  ourselves 
before  God,  to  seek  of  him  a  right  way  for  us,  and  for 
our  little  ones,  and  for  all  our  substance,'  This 
passage  was  singularly  and  strikingly  adapted  to  the  oc- 
casion ;  and  the  exhortation  in  this  celebrated  sermon 
breathed  a  noble  spirit  of  christian  liberty,  and  discover- 
ed a  spirit  of  liberality,  the  more  wonderful  as  the  age 
was  an  age  of  bigotry  ;  and  proceeding,  as  it  did,  from 
one  who,  at  one  period  of  his  ministry,  had  been  distin- 
guished as  a  rigid  and  unyielding  separatist.  '  Breth- 
ren,' said  he,  '  we  are  now  quickly  to  part  from  one 
another,  and  whether  I  may  ever  live  to  see  your  face 
on  earth  any  more,  the  God  of  heaven  only  knows ; 
but  whether  the  Lord  hath  appointed  that  or  not,  I 
charge  you,  before  God  and  his  blessed  angels,  that 
you  follow  me  no  farther  than  you  have  seen  me  fol- 
low the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  If  God  reveal  anything 
to  you,  by  any  other  instrument  of  his,  be  as  ready  to 
receive  it,  as  ever  you  were  to  receive  any  truth,  by  my 
ministry,  for  I  am  fully  persuaded, — I  am  very  confident, 
that  the  Lord  has  more  truth  yet  to  break  forth  out  of  his 
holy  word.  For  my  part,  I  cannot  sufficiently  bewail 
the  condition  of  the  reformed  churches,  who  are  come 
to  a  period  in  religion,  and  will  go  at  present  no  farther 
than  the  instrumentsof  their  reformation.  The  Luther- 
ans cannot  be  drawn  to  go  beyond  what  Luther  saw; 
whatever  part  of  his  will  our  good  God  has  revealed 
to  Calvin,  they  will  rather  die  than  embrace  it,  and 
the  Calvinists,  you  see,  stick  fast,  where  they  were  left 
by  that  great  man  of  God,  who  yet  saw  not  all  things. 
'  This  is  a  misery  much  to  be  lamented,  for  though 
they  were  burning  and  shining  lights  in  their  times,  yet 
they  penetrated  not  into  the  whole  counsel  of  God ; 
but,  were  they  now  living,  would  be  as  willing  to  em- 
brace further  light  as  that  which  they  first  received,  I 
beseech  you  to  remember  that  it  is  an   article  of  your 


286  ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY  [1620 

church  covenant,  that  you  shall  be  ready  to  receive 
whatever  truth  shall  be  made  known  to  you  from  the 
written  word  of  God.  Remember  that,  and  every 
other  article  of  your  sacred  covenant.  But  1  must 
here,  withal,  exhort  you  to  take  heed  what  you  receive 
as  truth.'  Examine  it,  consider  it,  and  compare  it  with 
other  scriptures  of  truth,  before  you  receive  it ;  for  it  is 
not  possible  that  the  christian  world  should  come  so 
lately  out  of  such  thick  anti-christian  darkness,  and 
that  perfection  of  knowledge  should  break  forth  at 
once. 

'  I  must  also  advise  you  to  abandon,  avoid  and  shake 
off  the  name  of  Brownist."^  It  is  a  mere  nickname, 
and  a  brand  for  the  making  religion  and  the  pro- 
fessors of  it  odious  to  the  christian  world.'  Mr.  Rob- 
inson also  addressed  a  pastoral  letter  to  his  flock,  in 
which  he  advised  them  in  relation  to  spiritual  matters, 
exhorting  to  the  practice  of  charily,  and  the  bearing 
each  others  infirmities,  and  finally  bidding  his  departing  . 
brethren  a  most  affectionate  farewell.  The  entire  let- 
ter may  be  seen  in  Morton's  Memorial. 

On  the  21st  of  July,  1620,  the  emigrants  departed 
from  Leyden  to  embark  at  Delfthaven.  They  were 
accompanied  by  many  of  their^afflicted  friends,  and  by 
some  who  came  from  Amsterdam.  The  next  day  they 
embarked  for  England  in  a  vessel  called  the  Speedwell, 
and  from  whence  they  took  passage  on  board  the  May- 
flower for  America,  (see  page  14.)  At  the  moment  of 
their  going  on  board  at  Delfthaven,  Mr.  Robinson  fell 
on  his  knees,  and  with  tearful  eyes,  in  a  most  ardent 
and  affectionate  prayer,  committed  them  to  their  Divine 
Protector.  So  great  was  the  grief  of  this  little  church, 
all  the  members  of  which  had  been  endeared  to  each 
other  by  so  many  circumstances,  and  united  by  so  many 

*  Brownist,  the  followers  of  Robert  Brown,  a  sectary,  whose  prin- 
ciples were  in  many  respects  very  exceptionable,  in  the  view  of 
sober  Christians,  and  who  at  length  abandoned  them  himself,  and 
conformed  to  the  church  of  England. 


1620]  OF    PLYMOUTH.  287 

ties,  that,  when  they  finally  separated,  the  agonizing 
expression  of  it  drew  tears  even  from  the  eyes  of  the 
Dutch,  who  had  assembled  on  the  quay  to  see  them 
depart,  insensible  as  they  usually  were  to  sorrowful 
emotions.  Well  might  it  be  said,  behold  how  these 
christians  love  one  another!  It  has  been  slated,  that 
the  Plymouth  church  was  formed  from  the  minority  of 
the  Leyden  church,  and  the  two  churches  were  like  a 
family,  separated  for  a  time,  but  impatient  of  a  reunion. 
Robinson  was  still  considered  pastor  of  the  Plymouth 
church;  and  his  expected  arrival  prevented  their  or- 
daining another  pastor,  or  leaching  elder;  and  this  was 
the  less  necessary,  as  Mr.  Brewster,  the  ruling  elder, 
was  eminently  quahfied  to  discharge  the  duties  of  both 
elder  and  pastor.  After  the  death  of  Mr.  Robinson, 
he  did,  in  fact,  perform  all  the  duties  of  the  two  offices, 
but  refused  to  be  ordained  as  pastor.  The  Rev.  John 
Robinson  was  not  indulged  in  his  anxious  desire  to  join 
that  portion  of  his  beloved  flock  which  came  to  Ameri- 
ca ;  the  means  of  the  congregation  being  exhausted  in 
the  transportation  of  those  who  came  over.  He  con- 
linue'd  at  Leyden  during  the  remainder  of  his  life, 
which  terminated  March  1,  1625,  in  the  fiftieth  year 
of  his  age.  His  death  caused  the  dissolution  of  the 
church  and  congregation  over  which  he  presided,  and 
which  his  talents  and  his  piety  contributed  so  much  to 
render  illustrious.  A  part  of  their  numbers  remained 
in  Holland,  and  a  part,  with  the  widow  and  children, 
came  to  Plymouth  colony.  His  posterity  are  yet  nu- 
merous in  various  parts  of  New  England.  Mr.  Robin- 
son was  buried  in  the  charnel  of  the  church  in  Leyden, 
assigned  for  the  use  of  his  congregation.  Mr.  Prince, 
the  Chronologist,  who  visited  Leyden,  in  171 4,  was  in- 
formed by  the  ancient  people,  as  received  from  their 
parents,  that  as  he  was  had  in  high  esteem,  both  by  the 
city  and  university,  for  his  learning,  piety,  moderation, 
and  excellent  accomplishments,  the  magistrates,  minis- 
ters, scholars,  and  most  of  the  gentry   mourned  his 


388  ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTOEY  [1620 

death  as  a  public  loss,  and  followed  him  to  the  grave. 
The  late  Dr.  Belknap  thus  delineates  his  character. 
'Mr.  Robinson  was  a  man  of  good  genius,  quick  pene- 
tration, ready  wit,  great  modesty,  integrity,  and  candor; 
his  classic  literature  and  acuteness  in  disputation  were 
acknowledged  by  his  adversaries ;  his  manners  were 
easy,  courteous  and  obliging,  his  preaching  was  instruc- 
tive and  affecting.  Though  in  his  younger  years  he 
was  rigid  in  his  separation  from  the  Episcopal  church, 
by  whose  governors  he  and  his  friends  were  treated 
with  unrelenting  severity,  yet,  when  convinced  of  his 
error,  he  openly  acknowledged  it,  and,  by  experience 
and  conversation  with  good  men,  became  moderate  and 
charitable,  without  abating  his  zeal  for  strict  and  real  re- 
ligion. It  is  always  a  sign  of  a  good  heart  when  a  man 
becomes  mild  and  candid  as  he  grows  in  years.  This 
was  eminently  true  of  Mr.  Robinson-  He  learned  to 
esteem  all  good  men  of  every  religious  persuasion,  and 
charged  his  flock  to  maintain  the  like  candid  and  be- 
nevolent conduct.  His  sentiments  respecting  the  re- 
formers, as  expressed  in  his  valedictory  discourse,  will 
entail  immortal  honor  to  his  memory  ;  evidencing  his 
accurate  discernment,  his  inflexible  honesty,  and  his 
fervent  zeal  for  truth  and  a  good  conscience.  He  was 
also  possessed,  in  an  eminent  degree,  of  the  talent  of 
peace  making,  and  was  happy  in  composing  differences 
among  neighbors  and  in  families  ;  so  that  peace  and  union 
were  preserved  in  his  congregation.'  '  Mr.  Robinson,' 
says  Mr.  Baylies,  '  was  a  man  of  uncommon  argumen- 
tative powers,  and  maintained  a  controversy  on  doc- 
trines, with  great  ability,  against  one  of  the  most  distin- 
guished and  learned  professors  of  the  university  of  Ley- 
den.  His  farewell  sermon  is  an  evidence,  not  only  of  his 
ability,  but  of  a  liberality  far  transcending  the  bigotry 
of  the  age,  and  would  do  no  discredit  to  these  times.' 
The  followers  of  Robinson,  with  their  brethren  in  Eng- 
land, were  denominated  puritans,  from  their  aversion  to 
the  prevailing  ceremonies  and  government  of  the  Epis- 


1620]  OF    PLYMOUTH.  289 

copal  church,  which  they  deemed  corrupt  and  immor- 
al ;  and  it  was  in  this  that  their  puritanism  consisted, 
more  than  in  disputable  points  of  doctrine  and  opin- 
ions. That  they  were  utterly  opposed  to  all  human 
injunctions  and  restrictions  in  the  worship  of  God,  will 
abundantly  appear  from  the  whole  tenor  of  their  histo- 
ry and  conduct.  Although  they  disclaimed  the  name 
of  Brownists,  they  maintained,  in  common  with  that 
sect,  '  that  every  christian  congregation  ought  to  be 
governed  by  its  own  laws,  without  depending  on  the 
jurisdiction  of  bishops,  or  being  subject  to  the  authori- 
ty of  synods,  presbyteries,  or  any  ecclesiastical  assem- 
bly, composed  of  the  deputies  from  different  churches.' 
A  congregational  church  is  a  company  of  professed 
christians,  possessing  the  exclusive  right  of  self-govern- 
ment in  matters  of  religion,  and  so  far  independent  as 
to  be  amenable  to  no  earthly  tribunal  for  the  exercise 
of  its  rights  and  prerogatives.  Its  rights  are,  to  form 
its  own  terms  of  agreement,  its  own  constitutions  of 
doctrine,  its  own  laws  of  discipline,  accountable  only 
to  the  great  Head  of  all  christian  churches. 

In  Prince's  Chronoloo;y  we  have  the  following  sum- 
mary of  the  religious  tenets  of  the  Plymothean  Fathers. 
They  maintained  that  the  inspired  scriptures  only  con- 
tain the  true  religion,  and  especially,  that  nothing  is  to 
be  accounted  the  Protestant  religion  respecting  either 
faith  or  worship,  but  what  is  taught  in  them  ;  and  that 
every  man  has  a  right  of  judging  for  himself,  of  trying 
doctrines  by  them,  and  worshipping  according  to  his 
apprehension  of  the  meaning  of  them.  Their  officers 
were,  1.  Pastors,,  or  Teaching  Elders,  who  have  the 
power  of  overseeing,  teaching,  administering  the  sac- 
raments, and  of  ruling  ;  are  therefore  to  be  maintain- 
ed. 2.  Ruling  elders,  who  are  to  help  the  pastor  in 
overseeing  and  ruling.  3.  Deacons,  who  are  to  take 
care  of  the  treasure  of  the  church  ;  to  distribute  for 
the  support  of  the  pastor,  the  supply  of  the  needy,  and 
25 


290  ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORT  [1624 

the   propagation  of  religion  ;  and  to  minister  at  the 
Lord's  table. 

In  the  year  1624,  a  minister,  by  name  John  Lyford, 
was  sent  over  to  be  the;  pastor  of  this  church,  but  he 
proved  unworthy  of  their  confidence  and  regard.  He 
manifested  a  perverse  and  factious  spirit,  and,  forming 
a  connexion  with  John  Oldham,  equally  perverse,  they 
created  great  disturhance  and  unhappiness  in  the 
church  and  among  the  people.  A  particular  history 
of  these  transactions  may  be  found  in  page  73, 
of  this  volume.  No  minister  was  settled  over  this 
church  till  the  year  1629,  when  Mr.  Ralph  Smith,  a 
man  of  ordinary  capacity,  having  found  his  way  to  Ply- 
mouth, and  being  a  pious  honest-minded  man,  was  re- 
ceived and  ordained  the  first  pastor  of  the  first  church 
in  Plymouth.  He  continued  in  that  station  five  or  six 
years,  when,  from  his  own  sense  of  incapacity  and  the 
persuasions  of  the  people,  he  resigned  his  pastoral 
office.  The  next  who  officiated  in  the  sacred  office 
in  that  church,  though  not  ordained,  was  the  celebra- 
ted Roger  Williams.  This  gentleman  had  been  liber- 
ally educated,  and  for  a  term,  a  pupil  of  Sir  Edward 
Coke,  the  illustrious  English  lawyer.  Mr.  Williams 
possessed  brilliant  talents  and  great  acquirements.  He 
resided  as  minister  at  Plymouth  about  three  years  from 
1631,  but,  by  his  eccentricity  of  opinions,  and  as  sup- 
posed unsound  docti"ines,  his  life  and  conversation  be- 
came odious  to  the  puritans;  and,  being  discontented 
with  hin.self,  he  was,  by  his  own  request,  dismissed  to 
the  church  at  Salem.  The  subsequent  history  of  this 
extraordinary  character  belongs  not  to  this  town,  and 
must  be  sought  for  elsewhere.  Mr.  John  Norton,  a 
man  of  great  worth,  came  over  from  England  in  1635, 
and  preached  one  winter  at  Plymouth ;  and  declining 
to  settle,  although  earnestly  desired,  he  soon  after  set- 
tled at  Ipswich,  and  was,  after  the  death  of  Rev.  Mr. 
Cotton,  translated  to  Boston,  where  he  was  distinguish- 
ed as  a  learned  divine.  Shortly  after  the  dismission 
of  Mr.  Smith,  in  1636,  the  Rev.  John  Reyner  was  or- 


1641]  OF    PLYMOUTH*  29l 

dained  his  successor.  He  was  a  oerson  of  great  hu- 
mility, worth,  and  piety.  In  I608,  the  celebrated 
Charles  Chauncy,  afterwards  the  minister  of  Scituate 
and  president  of  Harvard  College,  was  strongly  urged  to 
settle  in  conjunction  with  Mr.  Reyner.  Mr.  Chauncy 
preached  in  Plymouth  three  years,  was  greatly  and 
justly  admired,  but  declined  to  settle  on  account  of 
some  disagreement  in  point  of  doctrine,  he  having  em- 
braced anabaptist  principles.  The  church  and  people 
were  so  warmly  attached  to  him  that  every  possible 
effort  was  made  to  prevail  on  him  to  become  their  or- 
dained pastor,  but  he  negatived  every  proposition  to 
that  effect.  He  would  baptize  by  immersion  only. 
To  obviate  the  objection,  it  was  proposed  that  he 
should  be  permitted  to  baptize  in  botU  forms,  but  still 
he  declined.  At  the  birth  of  one  of  his  sons,  Mr.  R. 
Hicks,  a  merchant  of  Plymouth,  gave  him  fifty  acres 
of  land  as  a  mark  of  his  attachment.  Governor  Car- 
ver and  Dr.  S.  Fuller  had  been  chosen  the  deacons 
of  this  church  while  in  Holland  ;  after  their  deaths 
their  places  were  supplied  by  Richard  Masterson  and 
Thomas  Blossom,  both  of  whom  died  about  the  year 
1630.  After  them  the  deacons  were  John  Doane, 
William  Paddy,  and  John  Cook.*  In  the  year  1632, 
a  new  church  set  off  from  Plymouth  church  was  form- 
ed at  Duxbury,  and  another  was  soon  after  organised 
at  Green's  harbor,  in  Marshfield. 

In  1641,  an  ordinance  passed  the  general  court, 
that  no  injunction  should  be  put  on  any  church  or 
church  member,  as  to  doctrine,  worship,  or  discipline, 
whether  for  substance  or  circumstance,  beside  the  com- 
mand of  the  bible.  About  the  year  1643  or  1644, 
many  of  the  inhabitants  having  left  the  town  by  reason 
of  the  barrenness  of  the  place,  and  others  contemplat- 
ing a  removal,  serious  apprehensions  arose  that  the 
church   would  soon    be   dissolved.     It  was  therefore, 

*  John  Cook  was  subsequf^.ntly  excommunicated  by  thfi  church, 
ior  occasioning  manj  dissensions  among  them. 


292  ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY  [1644      | 

proposed,  that  the  whole  should  remove  bodily,  and 
Nauset  (Easthara)  was  chosen  as  the  place  for  settle- 
ment. But  on  further  consideration,  ihe  plan  was  re- 
linquished ;  but  a  part  of  the  church  agreed  to  pay  for 
the  whole  purchase,  which  had  been  made  in  the 
church's  name,  and  proceeded  to  establish  a  new 
church  at  Eastham,  which  is  the  third  branch  from  the 
ancient  church ;  and  thus  was  this  poor  church,  (say 
the  records,)  left  like  an  ancient  mother  grown  old, 
and  forsaken  of  her  children,  in  regard  of  their  bodily 
presence  and  personal  lielpfulness  ;  her  ancient  mem- 
bers being  most  of  tiiem  worn  away  by  death,  and 
those  of  later  times  being  like  children  translated  into 
other  families ;  and  she,  like  a  widow,  left  only  to 
trust  in  God.  Thus  she  that  had  made  many  rich  be- 
came herself  poor.  (See  page  102.) 

On  the  16th  of  April,  1644,  the  church  and  socie- 
ty were  most  grievously  afflicted  by  the  death  of  Wil- 
liam Brewster,  their  ruling  elder  and  kind  benefactor. 
The  life  of  this  excellent  man  was  by  a  kind  Provi- 
dence protracted  to  the  84th  year  of  his  age.  His  sac- 
rifices in  the  puritan  cause  were  eminently  conspicu- 
ous. His  perils  and  sufferings,  however  trying,  were 
equalled  by  his  humility  and  patient  resignation.  Mr. 
Brewster  was  born  in  England  in  1560,  and  educated 
at  the  university  of  Cambridge.  He  was  a  man  of  con- 
siderable abilities  and  learning,  and  of  eminent  piety. 
Though  well  qualified  for  the  pastoral  office,  yet  his 
great  diffidence  would  not  allow  him  to  undertake  the 
duties  of  it.  In  the  destitute  state  however,  of  the  Ply- 
mouth church,  his  public  services  as  elder  were 
highly  satisfactory  and  useful.  In  his  discourses  he 
was  discriminating,  yet  pathetic ;  in  the  government  of 
the  church,  as  ruling  elder,  he  was  resolute,  yet  concil- 
iatory. 

After  leaving  the  university  he  entered  into  the  ser- 
vice of  William  Davison,  Queen  Elizabeth's  ambassa- 
dor to  Scotland  and  to  Holland  ;  who  found  him  so  ca- 


1644]  OF    PLYMOUTH.  293 

pable  and  faithful,  that  he  reposed   the  utmost  confi- 
dence in  him.     He  esteemed  him  as  his  son  and  made 
him  his  confidential  friend.     Davison,  while  negotiating 
wiili  the  United  Provinces,  entrusted  him  with  the  keys' 
of  Flushing,  and  the  states  of  Holland  were  so  sensible 
of  his  merit,  as  to  present  him  with  the  ornament  of  a 
golden  chain.     When  Davison  incurred  the  hypocriti- 
cal displeaure  of  the  arbitrary  Queen,  and  was  by  her 
reduced  to  a  state  of  utter  ruin  and  poverty,  Mr.  Brew- 
ster remained  his  steadfast  friend,  and  gave  him  all  the 
assistance  of  which  he  was  capable.     Being  thorough- 
ly disgusted  with  the  forms,  ceremonies,  and  corrup- 
tions in  the  established  church,  he  withdrew  from  its 
communion  and  united  with  Mr.  Clifton  and  Mr.  Rob- 
inson, and  their  newly  formed  society  met  on  the  Lord's 
day,  at  Mr.  Brewster's  house,  and  at  his  expense.    He 
was  appointed  a  ruling  elder,  and   he  came  over  with 
the  minority  of  Mr   Robinson's  church,  and  suffered  all 
the  hardships  attending  their  settlement  in  this  wilder- 
ness,  and   partook   with   them  of  labor,   hunger  and 
watching ;  his  bible  and  his  arms  being  equally  familiar 
to  him ;  and  he  was  always  ready  for  any  duty  or  suf- 
fering to  which  he  was  called.     For  many  months  to- 
gether, he  had,  through  necessity,  lived  without  bread  ; 
having  nothing  but  fish  for  his  sustenance,  and  some- 
times was  destitute  of  that.     He  enjoyed  a  healthy  old 
age,  and  was  able  to  continue  his  ecclesiastical  func- 
tions, and  his  field  labor,  till  within  a  few  days  of  his 
death,  and  was  confined  to  his  bed  but  one  day.     He 
left  an  excellent  library  for  that  day,  valued  at  £43,  as 
appraised  by  Governor  Bradford,  Mr.  Prince  and  Rev. 
Mr.  Reyner.     The  whole  number  was  275,  of  which 
64  were  in  the  learned  languages. 

Elder  Brewster's  two  eldest  daughters,  Patience  and 
Fear,  were  left  in  Leyden,  and  arrived  in  the  Ann  in 
1623.  Mr.  Robinson  writes  to  him  from  Leyden,  'I 
hope  Mistress  Brewster's  weak  and  decayed  health  will 
have  some  renairing  by  the  coming  of  her  daughters, 
'25* 


294  ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY  [1644 

and  the  provisions  in  this  and  the  other  ships  sent. — 
{Plym.  Chh.  Records.)  Fear  was,  soon  after  her  ar- 
rival, married  to  Mr.  Thomas  Prince,  and,  before  1627, 
Patience  was  married  to  Mr.  Isaac  AUerton.  In  the 
division  of  the  cattle  in  1 627,  Elder  Brewster  was  at 
the  head  of  lot  No.  5.  As  his  wife  is  not  mentioned, 
it  may  be  presumed  that  she  was  not  then  living.  His 
sons  and  unmarried  daughters,  contained  in  that  list, 
are  Love,  a  son,  Wristling,  Jonathan,  Lucretia,  Wil- 
liam, and  Mary.  It  would  appear  therefore,  that  he 
had  eight  children,  two  of  whom,  it  is  supposed,  were 
born  in  this  country.  These  were  probably  the  two 
last  in  the  list,  William  and  Mary.  In  an  award  made 
August  1645,  by  William  Bradford,  Edward  Winslow, 
Thomas  Prince  and  Miles  Standish,  between  Jonathan 
Brewster  and  Love  Brewster,  they  are  mentioned  as 
the  only  surviving  sons  of  Elder  Brewster,  in  Colony 
Records,  i.  199.  There  are  many  descendants  from 
this  respectable  stock  who  still  reside  in  Duxbury, 
Kingston,  and  Plymouth.  When  the  south  part  of 
Harwich  was  separately  incorporated,  in  1803,  it  re- 
ceived the  name  of  Brewster  in,  honor  of  the  venera- 
ble pilgrim.  A  brig  was  launched  in  Plymouth,  in 
1822,  and  it  received  the  name  of  Elder  Brewster. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Belknap  published  an  interesting  bio- 
graphical sketch  of  .Elder  Brewster,  and  a  very  ample 
character  of  him,  written,  as  Judge  Davis  supposes, 
by  secretary  Morton,  is  found  in  the  records  of  the  first 
church  in  Plymouth.  This  is  copied  into  the  late 
edition  of  the  Memorial,  and  also  into  the  valuable 
history  of  the  Old  Colony,  by  the  Hon.  Francis  Bay- 
lies ;  from  this  last  production  1  extiact  the  following 
elegant  paragraph.  '  With  the  most  submissive  pa- 
tience he  bore  the  novel  and  trying  hardships  to  which 
his  old  age  was  subjected,  lived  abstemiously,  and,  af- 
ter having  been  in  his  youth  the  companion  of  minis- 
ters of  state,  the  representative  of  his  sovereign,  fa- 
miliar with  the  magnificence  of  courts,  and  the  pos- 


1644]  OF    PLYMOUTH.  295 

sessor  of  a  fortune  sufficient  not  only  for  the  comforts 
but  the  elegancies  of  life,  this  humble  puritan  labored 
steadily  with  his  own  hands  in  the  fields  for  daily  sub- 
sistence. Yet  he  possessed  that  happy  elasticity  of 
mind  which  could  accommodate  itself  with  cheerfulness 
to  all  circumstances ;  destitute  of  meat,  of  fish  and  of 
bread,  over  his  simple  meal  of  clams,  would  he  return 
thanks  to  the  Lord  that  he  could  suck  of  the  abun- 
dance of  the  seas,  and  of  treasures  hid  in  the  sand.' 
By  his  removal  to  Leyden  with  Robinson's  church,  he 
sacrificed  the  most  of  his  estate.*  About  four  or  five 
years  after  Mr.  Brewster's  decease,  the  church  made 
choice  of  Mr.  Thomas  Cushman,  as  his  successor  in 
the  office  of  ruling  elder ;  son  of  Mr.  Robert  Cush- 
man, who  has  been  frequently  mentioned  in  these  pa- 
ges, as  eminently  useful  in  the  transaction  of  their 
various  concerns.  The  son  inheriting  the  same  spir- 
it as  the  father,  and  weJl  qualified  by  gifts  and  graces, 
proved  a  great  blessing  to  the  church ;  assisting  Mr. 
Reyner,  as  Mr.  Brewster  had  done  before  him  :  it  be- 
ing the  professed  principle,  in  this  church,  to  choose 
none  for  governing  elders,  but  such  as  are  able  to  teach. 
In  the  year  1654  the  church  was  deprived  of  their 
estimable  pastor,  Mr.  Reyner,  after  about  eighteen  years 
very  acceptable  services.     His  character  as  a  preacher 

*  The  following  note  was  presented  to  our  pastor  by  Hon.  Judge 
Davis. 

'  When  Elder  Brewster  resided  in  Holland,  among  other  modes 
of  exertion  for  obtaining  a  livelihood,  we  are  informed  that  "  he  set 
up  printing,  (by  the  help  oi  some  friends)  and  so  had  employment 
enough."  Having  lately  met  wiih  a  copy  of  Cariivrighfs  Com- 
mentaries on  the  Book  o(  Proverbs,  which  appeared  to  have  been 
printed  at  the  Elder's  Leyden  press,  or  to  liave  been  published  by 
him,  in  that  city,  in  the  year  1617,  I  ask  leave;,  with  respect  and 
filial  regard,  to  present  the  volume  to  the  First  Church  in  Ply- 
mouth, to  be  carefully  kept  by  their  pastor.  Rev.  James  Kendall, 
T>.  D.,  and  by  succeeding  pastors  of  that  ancient  church,  with 
■whom  the  memory  of  Elder  Brewster  is  peculiarly  and  deservedly 
precious.' 

Boston,  JVov.  20th,  1828. 

This  volume  is  in  Latin,  and  contains  1513  pages,  large  octavo. 


296  ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY  [1648 

of  the  gospel,  and   a  wise  orderer  of  church  affairs, 
is  described  by  his  coiemporaries  in  a  most  advantage- 
ous point  of  view.     The  dissolution  of  the  connexion 
was  occasioned  by  the  reduced  state  of  the  church, 
and  by  an  existing  prejudice  against  a  learned    minis- 
try by   means  of  sectaries,  then    spreading    through 
the    country.     In    fact,    the    troubles  and    difficulties 
which  this  church  were  called  to  encounter,  were  in- 
numerable and  almost  insupportable  ;  but  it  was  found- 
ed on  a  rock,  and  sustained  by  Almighty  power.     Mr. 
Reyner,  say  the  church  records,  was  richly  accomplished 
with  such   gifts  and  qualifications  as  were    befitting  his 
place  and  calling  :  being  wise,    faithful,   grave,  sober, 
and  a  lover  of  good  men,  not  greedy  of  the  matters  of 
the  world,  &:c.  He  dissolved  his  connexion  with  the 
church  in  November,  1654,  to  the   great  regret  of  the 
church  and   people,  and  was  afterwards  settled  at  Do- 
ver, N.  H.,  where  he  remained  until  his  death,  in  1669. 
In  1648,  a  meeting  house  was  erected  in  Plymouth  ; 
no  dimensions  are  given,  but  a  bell  was  attached  to  it. 
In  1634,  that  ruthless  persecutor  of  puritans.  Arch- 
bishop Laud,  obtained  a  commission  from  King  Charles 
I.   wherein   he,  together  with  the  Archbishop  of  York, 
and  ten  more  of  the  minions  of  Laud,  some  of  whom 
were    papists,    were  empowered    to    revoke    all    the 
charters,    letters    patent,    and    rescripts-royal,    before 
granted    from  the  crown  to  the  several  colonies  and 
plantations ;  and  to  make  such   laws  and  constitutions 
as  to  them  should  seem  meet,  to  remove  and  displace 
the  several  governors  and  rulers  of  those  colonies,  for 
causes  which  to  them  should  seem  lawful,  and  others 
in  their  stead  to  constitute,  and  to  punish  those  of  them 
that  were  culpable,  by  mulcts  and  fines,  or  banishment 
from  those  places  they  had  governed  ;  or  otherwise  to 
punish,  according  to  the  degree  of  their  offence.     To 
remove   any   of  those  colonies  as  well  as  their  rulers, 
causing  them  to   return  to  England,  or   commanding 
thera  to  other  places  assigned,  as  according  to  their 


1655]  OF    PLYMOUTH.  297 

sound  discretions  should  seem  necessary  ;  and  to  con- 
stitute judges  and  magistrates,  political  and  civil,  for 
civil  causes,  and  to  fix  upon  them  such  a  form  of  gov- 
ernment as  to  five  or  more  of  them  should  seem  ex- 
pedient. And  also  to  make  laws  and  constitutions; 
ecclesiastical,  and  to  ordain  spiritual  courts,  to  deter- 
mine of  the  form  and  manner  of  proceeding  in  the 
same,  and  the  method  of  appeals,  &:c.  To  assign 
congruent  portions,  tylhes,  oblations,  and  other  things 
for  the  maintenance  of  the  clergy,  and  to  make  pro- 
vision against  the  violation  of  any  of  their  constitutions, 
by  imposing  penalties,  by  imprisonment,  and,  if  the 
quality  of  the  offence  require  it,  by  deprivation  of 
members  or  life,  to  be  inflicted,  he.  This  arbitrary 
commission,  subjecting  the  country  to  abject  slavery, 
is  recorded  at  large  by  secretar  Elorton  in  the  church 
records,  that  '  after  ages  may  improve  it,  as  an  experi- 
ment of  God's  goodness  in  preveniing  its  taking  effect, 
to  the  destruction  of  the  Plymouth  and  other  New 
England  churches.  There  is  no  mention  throughout 
this  arbitrary  commission  that  the  laws  and  ordinances 
to  be  enacted  by  them  should  be  conformable  to  the 
laws  of  England.  In  pursuance  of  the  aforesaid  com- 
mission, Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  was,  by  the  Archbish- 
op's fivor,  constituted  General  Governor  of  the  country. 
But  Mr.  Edward  Winslow,  being  then  an  agent  in 
England  for  the  colonies,  by  his  indefatigable  endeav- 
ors, aided  by  the  influence  of  some  great  men,  the 
storm  was  happily  diverted.  Mr.  Winslow  however 
shared  their  vengeance  by  being  c  mmitted  to  the  Fleet 
prison,  where  he  remained   about  seventeen  weeks.* 

*  The  facts  were  these.  The  mischievous  Thomas  Morton, 
whose  turbulent  conduct  at  Mount  "Wollaston,  is  noticed  in  the  N. 
E.  Memorial,  was  employed  by  Archbishop  Laud  and  others  to 
uoniplain  against  the  colonists  before  the  lords'  commissioners  for 
plantations,  to  which  Mr.  Winslow  presented  a  counter  statement, 
which  was  received  as  satisfactory.  Morton  was  reproved,  and  oth- 
ers censured  for  countenancing  hiia.     This  excited  the  ire  of  the 


298  ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY  [1662 

Had  the  commission  been  carried  into  execution,  the 
Plymouth  church,  and  all  others  in  the  colonies,  must 
have  been  entirely  annihilated.  The  great  perplexities 
and  troubles  occasioned  by  the  new  sect  of  quakers 
obtruding  themselves  about  the  year  1650  and  1660, 
have  already  been  detailed  in  a  preceding  page.  The 
synod  of  1662,  decided,  that  all  baptised  persons  were 
to  be  considered  members  of  the  church,  and  if  not 
scandalous  in  their  lives,  to  be  admitted  to  all  its  privi- 
leges, except  a  participation  of  the  Lord's  supper. 
This  decision  was  acquiesced  in,  by  the  Plymouth 
church,  and  most  of  those  of  New  England.-  But  by 
some  it  was  contended,  that  this  division  was  departing 
from  the  ancient  strictness  in  admitting  persons  to  the 
Lord's  supper,  and  abandoning  the  principles,  that  par- 
ticular churches  ought  to  consist  of  regenerate  persons 
only.  Tt  gave  rise  to  what  has  been  commonly  called 
the  Halfway  Covenant,  which  was  deemed  a  declen- 
sion from,  and  indifference  to  vital  religion.  The  pro- 
vision, that  none  should  have  the  rights  of  freemen 
but  those  who  were  members  of  some  church,  was  at- 
tended with  some  serious  consequences :  it  prepared 
the  way  in  some  instances  for  corruption  in  doctrine 
and  practice,  and  operated  to  the  injury  of  churches, 

Archbishop  ;  who  was  induced  to  aven2:e  himself  on  Mr.  Winslow, 
personally ,  alleging,  that,  being  a  layman,  he  had  assumed  the  min- 
isterial office  in  teaching  publicly  in  l he  church,  and  in  solemnising 
marriages.  Morton  being  produced  as  evidence,  testified  to  the 
facts.  Mr.  Winslow  replied,  that  sometimes,  when  destitute  of  a 
minister,  he  did  exercise  his  gift  to  help  the  edification  of  his  breth- 
ren, when  better  means  could  not  be  had  ;  and  as  to  the  second 
charge,  he  acknowledged  that  he  had  married  some,  but  as  a  magis- 
trate, not  as  a  minister  ;  that  marriage  was  a  civil  ordinance,  and 
he  nowhere  found  in  the  word  of  God  that  it  was  confined  to  the 
ministry  ;  that  necessity  obliged  them  to  it,  having  for  a  long  time 
together  at  first  no  minister  ;  that  the  thing  itself  was  no  novelty  in 
the  reformed  churches,  he  himself  having  been  married  by  the 
magistrate  in  Holland,  in  their  State  House.  These  replies  avail- 
ed not,  and  the  archbishop,  by  '  vehement  importunity,  procured 
their  Lordship's  consent  to  his  commitment,  upon  these  and  other 
like  charges.' 


1667]  OF    PLYMOUTH.  59d 

and  the  detriment  of  the  cause  of  religion.  No  exam- 
ination for  church  membership  could,  in  all  cases,  de- 
tect the  real  motive  for  the  application,  and  the  desire 
for  the  enjoyment  of  civil  privileges  might  be  conceal- 
ed under  the  veil  of  religion.  Church  membership 
being  a  qualification  for  the  privileges  of  freemen,  was 
a  source  of  great  dissatisfaction,  and  was  discontinued, 
partly  in  1664,  and  entirely  about  1686.  In  the  years 
from  1664  to  1666,  Mr.  James  Williams  and  Mr.  Wil- 
liam Brimsmead  officiated  as  the  ministers  of  Ply- 
mouth, but  made  no  permanent  settlement. 

1667.  JVovember  30. — Mr.  John  Cotton,  Jr.,  son  of 
the  famous  John  Cotton,  who  was  for  several  years  a 
religious  teacher  of  the  first  church  of  Christ  in  Bos- 
ton, commenced  his  ministerial  duties   in    Plymouth, 
and  on  June  30th,  1669,  was  ordained  the  pastor  of  the 
first  church.     At  Mr.   Cotton's  first  settlement  there 
were  resident  in  the  place  47  church  members  in  full 
communion,  and  on  August  1st,  Mr.  Robert  Finney, 
and  Mr.  Ephraim  Morton  were  chosen  deacons,  and 
were  ordained  by  the  elders.     In  January  follovi^ing, 
the  church  agreed  to  begin  monthly  church  meetings 
.  for  religious  conference,  which  were  constantly  attend- 
ed for  many  years,  and  much  good  resulted  from  that 
exercise,  being  on  Saturday  afternoon  previous  to  the 
sacramental  communion.     The  numbers   admitted  to 
full  communion,  the  first  year  of  Mr.  Cotton's  ministry, 
were  twenty-seven.     In  1670  fourteen  ;  the  next  year, 
seventeen.     In  1672,  six,  and  during  the  30  years  of 
his  ministry,  there  were  178  members  admitted.     Mr. 
Cotton  remained  in  the  ministry  at  Plymouth  until  1697; 
during  that  whole  period  he   was  indefatigable  in   his 
exertions  to  convert  the  heathen,  and  no  less  so  in 
gaining  members  to  his  own  church.     He  requested  all 
such  members  of  his  church  as  were  heads  of  families, 
to  attend  once  in  two  months,  and   receive   from   him 
sundry  questions,  which  they  were  to  answer  from  the 
scriptures.     Having  read  their  answers,  he  gave  his 


SOO  ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY  [I668 

own,  and  preached  on  the  subject.  It  had  been  the 
practice  in  the  Plymouth  church  for  candidates  for  ad- 
mission to  fellowship,  to  present  an  open  relation  of  the 
experiences  of  a  work  of  grace  in  the  heart,  but  in 
1688,  some  alteration  in  this  respect  was  made,  and  it 
was  agreed,  that  such  as  were  bashful  and  of  low  voice, 
and  not  able  to  speak  in  public  to  the  edification  of 
the  congregation,  the  elders  might  bring  before  the 
church  in  private,  but  voting  their  admission  should  be 
before  the  congregation  ;  they  having  been  examined 
and  heard  before  by  the  elders  in  private  ;  and  they 
stood  propounded  in  public  for  two  weeks.  The  re- 
lations of  the  women,  being  written  in  private  from 
their  mouths,  were  read  in  public  by  the  pastor,  and 
the  elders  gave  testimony  of  the  competency  of  their 
knowledge. 

In  town  meeting,  October  29tb,  1668,  it  was  agreed 
to  allow  to  Mr.  Cotton  the  sum  of  £80  for  the  follow- 
ing year,  one  third  part  in  wheat,  or  butter,  one  third 
part  in  rye,  barley  or  peas,  and  the  other  third  in  In- 
dian corn  at  stipulated  prices.  In  1677  the  same  sum 
was  allowed  him,  and  to  continue  till  God  in  his  pro- 
vidence shall  so  impoverish  the  town  that  they  shall  be 
necessitated  to  abate  of  that  sum.  In  November, 
1680,  it  was  voted  to  convey  to  Mr.  Cotton  the  minis- 
ter's house  and  homestead,  and  to  his  heirs  forever, 
except  the  lot  given  to  the  church  by  Bridgett  Fuller 
and  Samuel  Fuller,  which  reserve  is  the  parsonage  at 
the  present  time.  The  homestead  conveyed  to  Mr. 
Cotton  was  situated  where  Job  Churchil's  and  Le  Bar- 
on's houses  now  stand.  August  4th,  1687,  it  was  pro- 
posed in  town  meeting  to  allow  Mr.  Cotton  £90  for 
that  year,  but  it  was  opposed  by  a  large  majority,  as 
exceeding  their  ability,  and  it  was  then  agreed  that  the 
minister's  salary  should  he  paid  by  voluntary  subscrip- 
tion. In  1694,  Mr.  Isaac  Cushman  was  invited  to  set- 
tle as  a  religious  teacher  with  a  church  and  society 
formed  in  that  part  of  Plymouth  which  is  now  Plymp- 


1666]  OF    PLYMOUTH.  301 

ton.  The  acceptance  of  Mr.  Cusbman  laid  the  foun- 
dation of  an  unhappy  and  lasting  division  between  Mr. 
Cotton,  the  pastor,  and  his  church  ;  ibe  pastor  strenu- 
ously contended  that  Mr.  Cusbman  ought  not  to  setde 
before  being  designated  to  the  office  of  ruling  elder  by 
the  church.  This  controversy  continued  about  three 
years  with  considerable  warmth,  and  occasioned  the 
withdrawal  of  some  of  the  members  of  the  church. 
At  length,  many  ill  reports  were  propagated,  injurious 
to  the  reputation  and  feelings  of  Mr.  Cotton  ;  and  a 
mutual  council  was  called,  with  a  strong  desire  of  a 
permanent  reconciliation  of  difficulties.  But  this  prov- 
ing unsuccessful,  it  was  deemed  advisable  that  the  pas- 
tor ask  a  dismission,  and  that  the  church  grant  it,  '  with 
such  expressions  of  their  love  and  charity  as  the  rule 
called  for.'  Mr.  Cotton,  accordingly,  resigned  his  of- 
fice, and  at  his  request,  was  dismissed  October  5th, 
1697,  to  the  great  grief  of  a  large  number  in  the  church 
and  in  the  town,  who  earnestly  desired  his  continu- 
ance. After  this  he  tarried  more  than  a  year  in  Ply- 
mouth ;  in  which  time  he  preached  some  sabbaths  in 
Yarmouth ;  and  then  having  a  call  to  Charleston, 
South  Carolina,  he  accepted  the  same,  and  having 
made  up  all  differences  with  the  Plymouth  church,  and 
received  a  recommendation  from  several  ministers,  he 
set  sail  for  Carolina,  November  15th,  169S,  where  he 
gathered  a  church,  and  was  very  abundant  and  success- 
ful in  his  labors ;  as  appears  from  a  daily  journal,  un- 
der his  hand,  which  is  yet  extant. 

Mr.  Cotton  died  at  Charleston,  much  lamented,  on 
the  1 8th  of  September,  1699,  aged  about  60.  In  the 
short  space  of  his  continuance  among  that  people,  there 
were  about  25  members  added  to  the  church  and  ma- 
ny baptized.  He  was  treated  with  the  highest  honor 
and  respect,  and  the  church  manifested  their  affection 
for  his  memory  by  taking  the  charge  of  his  funeral,  and 
erecting  a  handsome  monument  over  his  grave.  The 
church  in  Plymouth  erected  a  stone  to  his  memory  al- 
26 


302  ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY  [1676 

SO,  in  the  burial  ground,  with  a  suitable  inscription. 
From  a  diary  kept  by  Josiah  Cotton,  Esq.,  I  have  cop- 
ied the  following  sketch  of  the  life  of  his  fatiier.  '  John 
Cotton,  son  of  the  minister  in  Boston,  was  born  March 
15th,  1639-40,  graduated  in  1657,  and  preached  at 
various  places  in  Connecticut,  and  afterwards  in  Old 
Town,  on  the  Vineyard,  where  he  learnt  the  Indian 
language.  He  had  a  vast  and  strong  memory,  and 
was  a  living  index  to  the  Bible ;  if  some  of  the  words 
of  almost  any  place  of  scripture  were  named,  he  could 
tell  the  chapter  and  verse  ;  and  if  chapter  and  verse 
were  named,  he  could  tell  the  words.  He  sometimes 
preached  in  the  Indian  language,  and  he  corrected  the 
second  and  last  edition  of  the  Indian  bible.  He  pray- 
ed in  Indian,  in  his  Indian  lectures.  His  method  of 
preaching  was  without  notes.  He  had  a  good  gift  in 
prayer,  in  which  he  greatly  enlarged  on  particular  oc- 
casions. He  was  a  competent  scholar,  but  divinity 
was  his  favorite  study.  He  discharged  the  work  of 
the  ministry  to  good  acceptance,  both  in  public  and  in 
private,  and  was  very  desirous  of  the  conversion  of 
souls.  He  ruled  his  house  like  a  tender  parent ;  was 
a  hearty  friend,  helpful  to  the  needy,  kind  to  strangers, 
and  doubtless  a  good  man.  And  yet,  what  man  is 
there  without  his  failings  ?  He  was  somewhat  hasty, 
and,  perhaps,  severe,  in  his  censures  upon  some  per- 
sons and  things,  which  he  thought  deserved  it ;  and 
that  possibly  might  occasion  some  hardships  he  met 
with,  and  the  violence  of  some  people  against  him. 
But  the  brightness  of  the  celestial  world  will  effectual- 
ly dispel  the  blackness  of  this.'  Mr.  Cotton  strenuous- 
ly opposed  'the  sabbath  being  called  Sunday;  as  it  ori- 
ginated with  some  heathen  nations  who  were  worship- 
pers of  the  sun ;  that  planet  being  the  object  of  their 
idolatry.' 

In  July,  1676,  the  church,  and  all  the  clmrches  in 
the  colony,  (at  the  motion  of  the  general  court,)  sol- 
emnly renewed  covenant  with  God  and  one  another, 


1686]  OF    PLYMOUTH.  303 

on  a  day  of  humiliation  appointed  for  the  purpose  ; 
wherein,  after  confession  of  the  prevailing  evils  of  the 
times,  they  entered  into  strict  engagements,  through  the 
assistance  of  divine  grace  for  personal  and  family  re- 
formation. The  children  of  the  church  bore  a  part  in 
this  transaction.  The  church  also  renewed  covenant 
in  the  like  method,  in  April  1092  ;  which  transactions 
were  attended  with  much  solemnity,  and  were,  accord- 
ing to  the  account  of  the  church  in  Plymouth,  of  great 
service  to  the  interest  of  vital  piety.  But  a  few  months 
after  the  first  renewal  of  the  covenant  in  1676,  it  was 
ascertained  that  some  of  the  brethren  walked  disorder- 
ly, in  sitting  too  long  together  in  public  houses  with 
vain  company,  and  drinking.  The  church  unanimous- 
ly consented,  that  a  rea^^on  should  be  demanded  of  the 
party  thus  offending,  and,  if  any  did  not  give  satisfac- 
tory reason,  it  should  be  accounted  just  matter  of  of- 
fence. The  elders  then  propounded  that  due  care 
might  be  taken  of  the  children  of  the  church,  that  they 
mighc  not  transgress. 

In  1683,  a  new  house  for  public  worship  was  erect- 
ed on  the  same  spot  occupied  by  the  other,  45  feet  by 
40  and  in  the  walls  16  feet,  uncoiled,  gothic  roof,  dia- 
mond glass,  with  a  small  cupola  and  bell. 

December  I9th,  1686. — Deacon  Finney  being  dis- 
abled through  infirmities  and  old  age  from  going  abroad, 
Mr.  Thomas  Faunce  was  unanimously  chosen  deacon 
in  his  stead,  and  was  ordained  to  that  office  soon  after. 
Deacon  Finney  died  January  7th,  1687,  at  80  years  of 
age.  His  colleague.  Deacon  Morton,  survived  until 
October  7th,  1693.  On  the  11th  of  December,  1691, 
died  Mr.  Thomas  Cushman,  the  elder,  aged  84  years, 
having;  officiated  in  that  office  near  43  years.  Decem- 
ber 16th  was  kept  as  a  day  of  humiliation,  on  account 
of  his  death  ;  and  a  liberal  contribution  was  made  for 
his  widow,  as  an  acknowledgment  of  his  great  services 
to  the  church. 

In  October,  1681,  was  introduced  the  practice  oi 


304  ECCLESIASTICAL     HISTORY  [1694 

reading  the  psalms  line  by  line,  when  singing  in  meet- 
ing ;  it  being  proposed  by  a  brother  who,  as  supposed, 
could  not  read.  Tlie  elder  performed  this  service,  af- 
ter the  pastor  had  first  propounded  the  psalm.  In  the 
spring  of  1694  the  pastor  introduced  a  new  method  of 
catechising ;  attending  it  on  sabbath  day  noons,  at  the 
meeting  house;  the  males  and  females  alternately; 
and  preaching  on  each  head  of  divinity  as  they  lie  in 
order  in  the  catechism.  This  course  was  constantly 
attended  through  the  summer,  communion  days  ex- 
cepted, and  many  of  the  congregation  attended.  Our 
present  Sunday  Schools  appear  to  be  a  revival  of  this 
practice,  and  reflect  honor  on  our  ancestors. 

In  March,  1694,  the  church  chose  George  Morton, 
Nathaniel  Wood,  and  Thomas  Clark  to  be  deaccns, 
and  nominated  deacon  Faunce  and  Isaac  Cushman  for 
elders.  In  the  same  year  Jonathan  Dunham  and  Sam- 
uel Fuller  received  a  call,  and  were  ordained  to  the 
woik  of  the  ministry  ;  the  former  to  Edgarton,  Mar- 
tha's Vineyard,  the  latter  at  Middleborough,  where  a 
church  was  at  the  same  time  gathered,  consisting  part- 
ly of  members  from  Plymouth  church.  Mr.  Fuller 
died  about  8  months  after,  aged  66  years.  This  was 
a  great  public  loss,  as  he  was  a  pious  christian,  and  a 
useful  preacher.  ^ 

The  same  month  that  Mr.  Cotton  received  his  dis- 
mission the  church,  engaged  Mr.  Ephraim  Little  to  of- 
ficiate in  the  pastoral  duties  ;  and,  after  about  two  years 
probation,  he   was  ordained  their  pastor,  October  4th, 

*  Mr.  Fuller  was  the  son  of  Dr.  Fuller,  who  came  over  in  the 
first  ship,  and  w  as  so  useful  as  a  physician  and  surgeon,  and  a  dea- 
con in  tlie  church. 

The  following  is  recorded  in  the  Old  Colony  Book  of  Records. 

'  Bridgett  Fuller  and  Samuel  Fuller,  both  of  Plymouth,  for  sever- 
al reason:^  moving  us  thereunto,  do  by  these  presents  freely  give 
unto  the  church  of  Plymouth,  now  in  being,  for  the  use  of  a  minis- 
ter, a  certain  garden  plat,  being  half  an  acre  more  or  less,  to  the 
only  pioper  use  of  the  church  of  Plymouth  for  the  ends  abovesaid, 
to  said  church  successively  forever.'    Dated  March  1st,  1664. 


1718]  OF    PLYMOUTH.  305 

1699.  The  churches  assisting  were  those  of  Wey- 
mouth, Marshfield,  Duxbury,  and  the  second  in  Ply- 
mouth. The  second  church  in  the  town  had  been 
formed  about  a  year  before,  and  Mr.  Isaac  Cushman 
was  their  ordained  pastor.  Tiiis  was  the  fourth  church 
derived  from  the  Plymouth  church,  and  was  seated  at 
a  place  since  called  Plympton.  In  April,  1699,  the, 
church  chose  deacon  Thomas  Faunce,  their  ruling  el- 
der, to  assist  Mr.  Little  in  church  affairs ;  and  he  was 
ordained  to  that  office  by  Mr.  Little,  and  Mr.  Cush- 
man, October  25th,  1699.  He  was  a  man  of  consider- 
able knowledge,  eminent  piety,  and  great  usefulness, 
always  full  of  religious  discourse.  In  May,  1706,  this 
church,  and  all  the  churches  in  the  province,  had  a 
contribution  for  the  Island  of  St.  Christophers,  which 
had  been  insulted  and  ravaged  by  the  French. 

February  6th,  1707,  at  a  church  meeting,  the  pastor 
proposed  to  the  church  the  setting  up  private  family 
meetings,  in  the  respective  neighorhoods  in  the  towns, 
for  family  and  other  spiritual  exercises,  which  was  ap- 
proved and  agreed  upon.  On  the  3d  of  June,  1715, 
the  meeting  house  built  in  1683  was  struck  by  light- 
ning and  very  much  shattered.  In  June,  1715,  a  day 
of  fasting  and  prayer  was  observed  on  account  of  the 
great  sickness  and  mortality  prevailing  in  the  town, 
*  about  40  dying  in  a  little  time  ;  and  behold  !  a  gra- 
cious God  so  far  heard  the  cries  of  his  people  that  the 
sickness  abated,  and  there  was  no  death  for  many- 
weeks  after.'  In  the  spring  of  the  year  1716,  the 
church  unanimously  chose  Mr.  Thomas  Foster  and 
Mr.  John  Atwood  to  the  office  of  deacons,  but  the  pas- 
tor, questioning  the  lawfulness  and  expediency  of  or- 
dination in  such  cases,  declined  it  for  a  time  ;  at  which 
the  majority  of  the  church,  being  much  dissatisfied,  he 
at  last  conceded  to  give  them  a  solemn  charge,  but  with- 
out the  imposition  of  hands ;  which  was  done  accord- 
ingly, the  pastor  beginning  with  prayer  and  the  elders 
concluding.  July  19th,  1718,  Ephraim,  the  son  of 
26* 


306  ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY  [1*727 

Eleazer  Holmes,  was  baptized  on  a  Saturday  at  his 
house,  he  being  at  the  point  of  death,  and  died  about 
six  iiours  after.  Tliis  being  the  first  instance  of  that 
nature  in  the  town,  viz.  of  baptising  privately,  the  pas- 
tor sets  down  the  grounds  of  the  proceeding,  as  follows, 
*  1.  The  child  was  undeniably  a  proper  subject  of  bap- 
tism, the  mother  being  in  full  communion.  2.  I  never 
could  find  that  baptism,  (viz.  the  administration  of  it,) 
is  any  where  in  the  scripture  limited  to  the  sabbath, 
or  a  public  assembly,  and  I  always  had  a  greater  re- 
gard to  the  scripture  than  the  custom  or  practice  of  any 
minister  or  church,  &lc.'  In  the  year  1717,  the  north 
part  of  the  town,  called  Jones  River  Parish,  was  set  off 
into  a  distinct  society,  and  settled  Mr.  Joseph  Stacy  as 
their  minister.  This  was  the  fifth  church  springing 
from  the  Plymouth  church.  They  were  made  a  town- 
ship in  1724,  and  took  the  name  of  Kingston.  The 
Rev.  Mr.  Little  died  November  23d,  1723,  in  the  S4th 
year  of  his  age.  His  remains  lie  in  the  Plymouth  bu- 
rial place,  being  the  first  minister  buried  here,  after  one 
hundred  and  three  years  settlement  of  the  place.  '  He 
was  a  gentleman  more  inclined  to  the  active,  than  the 
studious  life  ;  but  should  be  remembered  for  his  useful 
services  as  a  minister,  and  for  his  exemplary  life  and 
conversation,  being  one  of  good  memory,  a  quick  in- 
vention, having  an  excellent  gift  in  prayer,  and  in  oc- 
casional performances  also  excelling.  But  what  can 
never  be  sufficiently  commended,  was  the  generosity 
of  his  spirit,  and  his  readiness  to  help  all  that  were  in 
distress.'  After  Mr.  Little's  decease,  and  the  minis- 
ters of  the  neighborhood  had  taken  their  turns  in  sup- 
plying the  pulpit,  Mr.  Nathaniel  Leonard  was  chosen 
to  succeed  him,  on  the  13th  of  February,  1724,  and 
was  solemnly  ordained  on  the  29th  of  July  following. 
The  churches  sent  to  were  those  of  Taunton, Cambridge, 
Scituate  south  church  ;  Pembroke,  Middleborough, 
Bridgewater,  north  and  south  churches,  and  Sandwich. 
January  22d,  1727,  the  church  elected  Mr.  Haviland 


1737]  OP    PLYMOUTH.  307 

Torrey  and  Mr.  Thomas  Clark  to  the  office  of  deacon. 
March  18th,  deacon  Clark  died  ;  on  the  29th  Decemr 
ber  deacon  Torrey  was  ordained,  with  prayer  and  im- 
position of  hands. 

Manomet  Ponds  was  made  a  precinct,  but  not  in- 
corporated, in  1731.  On  the  8th  of  November  1737,  a 
church  was  embodied  there,  consisting  of  25  members 
from  the  parent  church  ;  and  Jonathan  Elh's  was  ordain- 
ed their  first  pastor.  This  was  the  sixth  derived  from 
the  ancient  church,  and  the  second  of  Plymouth.  Mr. 
Ellis  was  enthusiastic,  he  participated  in  all  the  ex- 
travagances and  fanatic  irregularities  introduced  by  An- 
drew Croswell,  a  few  years  after  his  settlement,  and 
proceeded  to  such  excesses  of  religious  frenzy,  that 
his  people  thought  proper  to  dismiss  him,  preferring, 
they  said,  to  travel  from  7  to  9  miles  to  meeting,  rath- 
er than  countenance  his  conduct.  A  council  was  con- 
vened, and  by  their  advice  Mr.  Ellis  was  dismissed, 
October  3 1st,  1749.  He  soon  after  however,  receiv- 
ed a  call  from  the  church  at  Little  Compton,  where  he 
was  installed  December  5th,  1749.  December  26th 
1753,  Elijah  Packard,  of  Bridgewater,  was  ordained  at 
Manomet  Ponds;  sermon  by  Rev.  Mr.  Perkins,  Mr. 
Leonard,  Mr.  Angier,  and  Mr.  Bacon  assisting.  Mr. 
Packard  continued  their  minister  till  1757,  after  which 
the  society  continued  destitute  thirteen  years.  In 
1770,  April  18th,  Rev.  Tvory  Hovey  was  installed  over 
the  church  at  Manomet  Ponds,  where,  to  use  his  own 
words  he  '  lived  peaceably  and  comfortably.'  This 
pious  and  venerable  man  died  greatly  lamented,  No- 
vember 4th,  1803,  four  months  advanced  in  his  90th 
year.  Mr.  Hovey  graduated  at  Harvard  in  1735,  and 
in  October,  1740,  he  was  ordained  at  Rochester  south 
parish,  whence,  at  his  own  request,  he  was  dismissed 
in  1769,  in  consequence  of  sectarian  influence.  He 
kept  a  diary,  comprised  in  nine  octavo  volumes  of  al- 
most 7000  pages.  '  How  uniform  and  how  tranquil 
must  have  been  the  tenor  of  his  way.'     Blessed  are 


308-  ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY  [1743 

the  meek.  Mr.  Hovey  was  an  exemplary  christian, 
and  mutual  attachment  and  love  subsisted  between  him 
and  bis  people.  The  successor  of  Mr.  Hovey  was  Rev. 
Seth  Stetson,  who  was  ordained  July  18th,  1804  ;  the 
sermon  was  preached  by  Rev.  Mr.  Barker,  of  Middle- 
borough,  Mr.  Niles  and  Mr.  Judson  assisting  in  the  so- 
lemnities. Mr.  Stetson  commenced  his  ministry  re- 
putedly a  devotee  to  Hopkinsian  doctrines ;  after  a  few 
years  he  adopted  unitarian  principles,  and  again  waver- 
ing in  his  faith,  he  became  a  convert  to  the  universa- 
list  sentiments,  when  the  connexion  was  dissolved. 

The  precinct  at  Manomet  Ponds  was  incorporated 
in  1810,  when  its  boundaries  were  enlarged,  including 
Halfway  Ponds.  Rev.  Harvey  Bushnell  succeeded  Mr. 
Stetson,  and  was  ordained  November  21,  1821.  He 
continued  his  connexion  but  a  short  time,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Rev.  Moses  Partridge  in  1824,  who  died, 
greatly  lamented,  September  25th,  of  the  same  year, 
aged  36  years.  Rev.  Joshua  Barrett,  the  present  pas- 
tor, was  ordained  in  1826. 

After  several  years  consideration,  the  Plymouth 
church  voted  their  consent  to  the  synod's  propositions 
in  1662,  relating  to  the  subject  of  baptism;  it  being 
ever  their  practice,  before,  to  admit  only  the  children 
of  communicants  to  baptism. 

January  31,  1733-4. — At  the  motion  of  the  pastor, 
the  first  church  unanimously  voted  to  desire  the  dea- 
cons to  catechise  the  children  between  meetings  on  the 
sabbath,  as  soon  as  the  days  were  sufficiently  lengthen- 
ed ;  to  ask  them  four  or  five  questions  at  a  time,  till 
they  had  learnt  the  catechism  through.  Our  sabbath 
schools  at  the  present  day  appear  to  be  a  revival  of  this 
practice,  and  reflect  honor  on  our  ancestors. 

In  February,  1743,  Mr.  Andrew  Croswell,  a  famous 
itinerant  preacher,  came  to  this  town,  and  commenced 
preaching  and  exhorting  in  such  a  wild  manner  as  to 
throw  the  whole  town  into  the  utmost  confusion.  On 
a  sacrament  day  he  publicly  declared  that  he  had  rea- 


1'*'43]  OF    PLYMOUTH.  309 

son  to  think  that  three  quarters  of  the  communicants  of 
that  day  were  unconverted.  Curiosity  induced  many 
people  to  attend  his  preaching,  and  his  audience  soon 
became  very  numerous.  His  meetings  were  some- 
times continued  the  whole  twenty-four  hours,  with  little 
intermission,  allowing  the  people  no  time  for  serious, 
calm  reflection.  At  length  the  disorder  became  so 
great,  that  it  appeared  as  though  the  people  were  affect- 
ed with  a  religious  delirium.  Croswell  was  so  lost 
to  -all  sense  of  propriety  and  decorum,  that  he  actually 
pressed  negroes  and  children  into  the  pulpit  to  exhort 
the  people,  and  having  thciir  own  passions  excited, 
noise  and  outcry  filled  the  assemblies.  Those  friends 
to  religion  and  order  who  opposed  these  irregularities, 
or  would  not  go  the  whole  length  with  Croswell,  were 
called  enemies  to  religion  and  God.  The  Rev.  Leo- 
nard, the  pastor  of  the  first  church,  gave  countenance 
and  encouragement  to  these  extravagant  proceedings, 
and  additions  were  made  to  his  church.  Ttiis  strange 
infatuation  continued  several  weeks,  and  an  alteration 
was  observable  among  the  people,  but  a  change  from 
open  profaneness  and  irreligion,  (always  desirable)  to 
a  boisterous  extravagance  of  enthusiasm  and  rash 
judging  of  others  is  not  to  be  deemed  a  proper  refor- 
mation. Many  serious  people  were  offended,  some 
absented  themselves  from  the  communion,  some  went  to 
other  meetings,  or  stayed  at  home.  The  friends  of 
rational  sober  religion  deprecated  the  system  of  itiner- 
ant preaching,  as  calculated  to  subvert  the  influence  and 
counteract  the  labors  and  exertions  of  settled  pastors, 
destructive  to  church  order  and  decency,  and  having 
a  direct  tendency  to  unsettle  faithful  ministers  of 
churches,  and  to  cause  discord  among  the  brethren. 

Josiah  Cotton,  Esq.,  a  member  of  the  first  church, 
and  orthodox  in  his  principles,  being  alarmed  for  the 
honor  of  religion  and  the  prosperity  of  the  church, 
made  a  written  request,  that  the  pastor  would  assemble 
the  church  to  consider  the  following  things  : — 


310  ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY  [1743 

*  1.  Whether  a  sudden  and  short  distress,  and  as  sud- 
den joy,  amounts  to  the  repentance  described  and  re- 
quired.    (2  Corin.  vii.  9 — 11.) 

*  2.  Whether  the  judging  and  censuring  others  as  un- 
converted, against  whose  Hves  and  conversation  no- 
thing is  objected,  be  not  too  pharisaical,  and  contrary 
to  the  rule  of  charity  prescribed  in  the  Word,  and  a 
bold  intrusion  into  the  divine  prerogative. 

*  3.  Whether  that  spirit  which  leads  us  off  from  the 
scriptures,  or  comparatively  to  undervalue  them,  be  a 
good  spirit ;  as,  for  instance,  the  disorder  and  confu- 
sion in  our  public  meetings,  contrary  to  the  scripture 
rule,  (1  Cor.  xiv.)  the  breaking  in  upon  the  order 
and  religion  of  families,  by  frequent  unseasonable 
evening  lectures,  without  scripture  precept  or  exam- 
ple, (except  one  extraordinary  case.) 

*  4.  Women  and  children  teaching  and  exhorting  in 
the  public  assemblies,  contrary  to  the  apostolical  direc- 
tion. Many  other  things  might  be  mentioned,  but  are 
omitted.  But  inasmuch  as  it  has  been  publicly  sug- 
gested that  three  fourths  of  this  church  are  unconvert- 
ed, we  would  humbly  move  that  we  may  meet  togeth- 
er, in  order  to  know  whether  they  are  in  charity  with 
one  another,  and  also,  that  the  admission  of  members 
may  not  be  too  hastily  pushed  on,  till  vve  are  better 
satisfied  concerning  the  spirit  that  stirs  up  people  to 
their  duty  herein.' 

It  does  not  appear  that  this  address  received  the  re- 
quired attention;  and  a  part  of  the  society,  dissatis- 
fied with  the  prevailing  disorder,  resolved  to  separate, 
'the  old  lights  from  the  new.'  Josiah  Cotton,  Esq., 
with  eighty  others,  petitioned  to  be  separated  from  the 
old  society,  which  was  granted  ;  and  in  1744,  a  new 
church  and  society  was  formed  from  the  old,  and  was 
called  the  Third  Church  and  Congregation  in  Ply- 
mouth. This  was  the  seventh  from  the  ancient  church. 
The  venerable  Elder  Faunce  was  an  opposer  of  Cros- 
well,  and  on  this  occasion  a  seceder  from  Mr.  Leon- 


1749]  OP    PLYMOUTH.  311 

ard's  church.  This  new  society  erected  a  bouse  of 
worship,  which  was  dedicated  by  Rev.  Mr.  Eels,  of 
Scituate,  January  5th,  and  he  preached  in  it  again  on 
the  following  sabbath.  This  house  was  located  in 
Kings,  now  Middle  street,  and  was  a  neat,  convenient 
edifice,  of  wood,  with  a  tower  and  spire  in  front.  The 
lot  was  a  donation  from  Thomas  Murdock,  Esq. 
Croswell  continued  to  distinguish  himself  by  his  arro- 
gance and  fiery  expressions  against  many  who  were 
esteemed  as  the  best  of  men  in  society.  He  held  the 
opinion,  that  holiness  of  heart  and  life  is  no  good  evi- 
dence of  justification  ;  but  that  it  lays  in  some  feelings, 
or  impressions,  or  manifestations  of  the  love  of  God, 
and  joy  in  him,  without,  or  beside  the  scripture.  His 
many  trances,  visions,  dreams,  and  extacies,  finally 
cooled  the  wild  proceedings,  and  terminated  the  delu- 
sion. 

In  1744-5,  Mr.  Whitefield,  an  English  Episcopal 
clergyman,  about  twenty-five  years  of  age,  itinerating 
through  the  country,  came  to  Plymouth  by  invitation 
and  preached,  six  sermons  to  a  very  numerous  audito- 
ry. The  power  of  his  oratory,  accompanied  as  it  was, 
by  very  extraordinary  gesticulations,  and  by  great  flu- 
ency and  readiness  in  speaking  without  notes,  together 
with  his  new  and  unusual  phraseology,  and  his  zeal  in 
the  cause  to  which  he  had  devoted  so  much  labor,  was 
very  captivating  with  most  people,  though  some  did 
not  like  and  others  would  not  hear  him. 

Mr.  Whitefield  came  again  to  Plymouth,  November 
1755,  and  preached  five  sermons  in  three  days,  with 
popular  applause. 

The  Rev.  George  Whitefield,  in  1749-50,  made  a 
public  confession  (in  print)  that  he  had  been  too 
free  with  the  characters  of  men,  and  also  in  using 
the  apostolic  style  in  his  writings,  giving  too  much  heed 
to  impulses,  and  having  too  much  wild-fire  in  his  zeal  ; 
all  which  he  condemned,  but  his  admirers  approved, 
—  Cotton's  MS.  Diary. 


812  ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY  [1749 

JVovember  7th,  1144. — Rev.  Thomas  Frink,  who 
had  been  minister  at  Rutland,  was  installed  as  pastor 
of  the  thirdchurch  and  society  in  this  town,  when  Rev. 
Dr.  Chauncy  of  Boston  preached  the  sermon.  This 
connexion  continued  until  1748,  when  by  mutual  con- 
sent Mr.  Frink  returned  to  Rutland.  He  is  said  to 
have  possessed  strong  mental  powers,  and  handsome 
literary  acquirements.  He  was  graduated  at  Harvard 
college  in  1722. 

February  21th,  1745-6. — Thomas  Faunce,  ruling 
elder  in  the  first  church,  died  at  the  advanced  age  of 
ninety-nine  years.  He  was  the  son  of  John  Faunce. 
The  father  dying  while  the  son  was  a  child,  Captain 
Thomas  Southworth  took  him  by  the  hand  at  the  grave, 
led  him  to  his  own  home,  and  from  that  time  bestowed 
on  him  paternal  affection.  In  the  family  of  Mr.  South- 
worth  he  was  educated  and  instructed,  and  here  his 
mind  received  the  rudiments  of  those  principles  of  hu- 
mility and  piety  by  which  he  was  so  remarkably  distin- 
guished in  after  life.  It  has  been  related,  the  elder 
has  often  been  heard  to  say  that  for  this  education  he 
should  have  reason  to  bless  God  to  all  eternity.  He 
was  first  chosen  deacon  and  afterwards  elder,  and  he 
was  the  last  that  held  that  office.  In  those  days  the  of- 
fice of  elder  was  one  of  great  consideration.  An  elder 
was  regarded  as  the  virtual  representative  of  the  church, 
and  on  an  equality  with  the  pastor.  He  was  bound 
to  keep  a  watchful  eye  over  the  doctrines  preached 
as  well  as  the  principles  and  practices  of  the  brethren. 

The  Elder's  house  stood  on  the  west  side  of  the  road 
near  Eel  river  bridge.  The  house  in  which  Mr.  Josiah 
Morton  now  lives  was  a  new  addition  attached  to  the 
ancient  house,  which  was  taken  down  about  thirty  years 
ago.  Elder  Faunce  had  two  sons  and  two  daughters, 
and  the  descendants  are  very  numerous. 

Rev.  Jacob  Bacon,  who  had  been  a  minister  of 
Keene,  New  Hampshire,  about  ten  years,  was  installed 
in  the  third  church  of  Plymouth,  in  1749,  of  which  he 


1756]  OF    PLYMOUTH.  313 

continued  the  beloved  and  respected  pastor  till  1776, 
when  the  connexion  was  dissolved  by  mutual  consent, 
the  society  still  diniinisbing  in  consequence  of  the  war. 
Mr.  Bacon  preached  about  eiglitcen  months  at  Plymp- 
ton,  second  parish,  (now  Carver)  whence  he  retired  to 
Rowley,  where  he  died  1787,  in  the  cight^'-first  year 
of  his  age.  Mr.  Bacon  was  born  at  Wrentham,  1706, 
graduated  at  Harvard  college  1731. 

July,  1744. — The  first  society  in  Plymouth  erected  a 
new  meeting-house,  which  they  began  to  raise  on  the 
seventeenth,  and  on  the  twenty-ninth  they  began  to 
meet  in  it.      iMr.  Leonard  preached  on  the  occasion. 

May  2d,  1745. — Mr.  Thomas  Foster,  son  of  the  late 
pious  deacon  Foster,  and  Mr.  Joseph  Bartlett  were  cho- 
sen deacons. 

October  3c/,  1754. — Mr.  John  Torrey,  son  of  the 
former  deacon,  was  chosen  to  that  office.  In  the  au- 
tumn of  the  year  1755,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Leonard  labored 
under  many  infirmities  of  body,  and,  in  the  spring  of 
1756,  he  asked  a  dismission,  which  the  church  granted 
on  certain  conditions.  The  precinct  agn^ed  to  give  him 
£160,  lawful  money,  and  he  removed  his  family  to  Nor- 
ton, June,  1757~dismission  from  his  pastoral  relation  to 
the  church  not  to  be  completed  till  another  minister  was 
settled.  The  connexion  with  the  Rev.  Mr.  Leonard  be- 
ing thus  dissolved,  the  church  used  unwearied  endeavors 
for  the  resettlement  of  the  gospel  ordinances  among 
them  ;  but  it  was  two  years  before  their  desirable  pur- 
pose could  be  accomplished.  Amorig  the  numerous 
candidates,  were  a  Mr.  Sproat,  then  settled  in  Con- 
necticut, afterwards  minister  in  Philadelphia ;  Mr. 
Whitney,  Mr.  West,  and  not  less  than  four.or  five  others. 
At  length  the  church  and  congregation  were  happily  uni- 
ted in  the  choice  of  Mr.  Chandler  Robbinsof  Br?nford 
in  Connecticut.  The  votes  in  the  church  being  thirty- 
three  to  two,  in  the  parish  fifty-two  to  nine.  The  sti- 
pulated annual  salary  was  £100  lawful  money,  with  the 
improvement  of  the  parsonage,  and  the  privilege  of  cut- 
27 


3J4  ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY  [1794 

ting  firewood  from  the  parish  lot.  The  parish  also 
agreed  to  build  for  his  use  a  parsonage  house,  which  is 
the  one  now  standing  on  the  north  side  of  Leyden 
street,  and  occupied  by  tlie  present  pastor. 

Mr,  Robbins  was  solemnly  ordained  to  the  work  of 
the  ministry,  January  30th,  1760.  The  churches  as- 
sisting on  this  occasion  were,  the  first,  third,  and  fourth, 
of  Bridge  water;  the  first  of  Rochester  ;  the  first  of 
Plympton  ;  the  first  of  Middleborough  ;  Abington ; 
Halifax;  Bristol ;  Taunton  ;  Raynham  ;  Berkley;  Mil- 
ton ;  and  Branford,  in  Connecticut.  The  sermon  was 
preached  by  Rev.  Philemon  Robbins,  of  Branford,  the 
father  of  the  pastor  elect.  On  the  same  day  that  Mr. 
Robbins  was  ordained,  the  church,  pursuant  to  agree- 
ment, and  by  the  advice  of  the  council,  gave  Mr. 
Leonard,  who  was  personally  present  and  assisted  in 
the  laying  on  of  hands,  a  dismission  in  the  most  cor- 
dial terms,  and  a  free  and  hearty  recommendation  to 
other  churches.  In  1783,  the  third  church  and  con- 
gregation united  with  the  first  church  and  congregation 
into  one  parish.  The  meeting  house  belonging  to  the 
third  parish  was  demolished,  and  the  lot  disposed  of, 
leaving  an  alley-way,-  six  feet  wide,  through  said  lot. 

In  1794,  about  fifiy  persons  of  high  standing  in  the 
parish,  not  in  all  points  satisfied  with  the  ministry  of 
the  Rev.  pastor,  advanced  proposals  for  a  separation, 
and  a  formation  of  a  new  religious  society,  offering  at 
the  same  time  to  erect  a  new  house  for  worship.  This 
proposal  received  attention  at  the  hands  of  the  pastor 
and  church,  and  committees  were  chosen  by  the  parties. 
Interviews  and  consultations  ensued,  compromise  and 
reconciliation  were  attempted,  but  in  vain.  On  the 
side  of  the  church,  the  most  rigid  adherence  to  rules, 
precepts,  and  doctrines,  was  manifested.  The  appli- 
cants, too  honorable  to  torture  the  feelings  of  a  con- 
scientious minister,  and  deeming  the  peace  of  society 
too  precious  to  be  disturbed,  yielded  to  the  stronger 
side,  consenting  still  to  pay  their  proportion  for  the 
support  of  preaching  preferred  by  the  majority,  and 


1799]  OF    PLYMOUTH.  3l5 

contenting  themselves  with  the  report  of  their  com- 
mittee, which  closes  as  follows  :  '  Upon  the  whole,  the 
committee  are  constrained  to  lament  the  narrow  policy 
of  the  church,  in  excluding  from  its  communion  many 
exemplary  christians,  merely  on  account  of  their  differ- 
ent conceptions  of  some  points  of  doctrine,  about  which 
learned  and  good  men  have  entertained  a  great  variety 
of  opinions,  and  this  circumstance  is  more  especially  a 
source  of  regret  at  this  enlightened  period,  when  the 
principles  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  are  almost  uni- 
versally understood  and  practised  ;  for,  whatever  stress 
son-ie  persons  may  be  disposed  to  lay  on  matters  of 
merely  speculative  belief,  the  benevolent  genius  of  the 
gospel  will  teach  its  votaries,  amidst  all  their  c^ifFerences 
of  opinion,  to  exercise  mutual  candor  and  indulgence, 
that  they  may,  if  possible,  preserve  the  unity  of  the 
spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace. 

June  30,  1799.— Rev.  Chandler  Robbins,  D.  D.  de- 
parted this  life,  aged  61,  after  a  ministry  of  39  years 
over  the  ancient  church  and  congregation  in  this  town. 
He  was  born  at  Branford,  in  Connecticut,  August  24, 
1738.  His  father  was  Rev.  Philemon  Robbins,  a 
native  of  Cambridge,  Mass.  who  graduated  at  Harvard 
college  1729.  He  graduated  at  Yale  college  1756, 
and  he  is  said  to  have  been  there  distinguished  as  a 
correct  classical  scholar,  and,  besides  common  acquire- 
ments in  the  classics,  he  learned  the  French  language, 
which  he  read,  wrote,  and  occasionally  spoke,  through 
life.  In  his  church  records,  1  find  one  instance  in 
which  he  performed  the  marriage  ceremony  in  the 
French  language.  ^  Early  impressed  with  the  truth 
and  importance  of  the  christian  system,  and  qualified, 
by  divine  grace,  for  the  gospel  ministry,  he  commenced 
a  preacher  of  this  holy  religion  before  he  reached  the 
age  of  twenty.  '  During  his  ministry  he  was  ever 
anxious  to-be  instrumental  in  softening  the  callous  heart 
of  impiety,  and  silencing  the  tongue  of  infidelity:  and 
his  exemplary  piety  and  religious  zeal  were  calculated 


316  ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY  [1799 

to  shield  him  from  the  reproaches  of  those  who  dissent- 
ed from  his  doctrines.  In  him  was  an  example  of  re- 
ligion united  with  taste  and  accomplishments,  courteous 
manners  with  an  amiable  cheerfulness  of  disposition. 
The  funeral  solemnities  of  Dr.  Robbins  were  perform- 
ed in  the  meeting-house,  when  the  throne  of  grace 
was  addressed  in  an  impressive  manner,  by  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Shaw,  and  an  ingenious  discourse  was  delivered 
by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Sanger.  His  remains  were  deposited 
in  the  Plymouth  burial  ground,  with  the  puritan  fathers^ 
the  parish  by  a  committee,  directing  the  solemnities 
and  defraying  the  expense.  On  a  subsequent  sabbath 
the  Rev.  William  Shaw  delivered  a  well-adapted  dis- 
course, which  was  published  and  dedicated  to  his  be- 
reaved family  and  flock. 

Dr.  Robbins  manifested,  unceasingly,  an  interest  and 
solicitude  for  the  cause  of  religion  in  general,  and  for 
the  welfare  and  prosperity  of  the  church  and  society  of 
which  he  was  the  pastor.  In  theological  sentiment. 
Dr.  Robbins  was  strictly  Calvinistic,  believing  {he  Jive 
points  equally  essential  with  any  points  in  holy  writ. 
He  also  adopted  some  of  the  peculiar  doctrines  and 
tenets  of  Hopkins,  with  which  his  sermons  were  often 
tinctured,  to  the  displeasure  of  many  of  his  hearers. 
His  occasional  sermons  were  delivered  with  graceful 
eloquence  and  animation,  which  seldom  failed  to  re- 
ceive the  applause  of  his  audience.  When,  in  May, 
1794,  he  preached  before  the  convention  of  ministers, 
from  Acts  xx.  2(3  :'  I  am  free  from  the  blood  of  all 
men,' — coming  out  of  the  house.  Dr.  Clark  of  Boston, 
cordially  thanked  him  for  his  excellent  sermon.  Dr. 
Morse  asked  him,  why  he  did  that,  since  he  did  not 
concur  in  the  sentiments,  which  had  been  delivered  ? 
He  replied,  '  I  love  to  see  a  minister  act  the  part  of  an 
honest  man.'  He  observed  to  a  friend,  that  he  felt  it 
to  be  his  duty  on  that  occasion  to  offer  a  distinct  ex- 
hibition of  his  own  views  of  the  christian  salvation. 
His  success  in  producing  and  maintaining  the  harmoni- 


1799]  OF    PLYMOUTH.  317 

ous  union  of  his  numerous  flock,  was  ren:iarlvable.  But 
his  peculiar  suavity  of  manners  and  christian  humili- 
ty, with  his  felicity  of  expression,  rendered  his  reli^^ious 
sentiments  acceptable  to  many  persons,  who  vvould 
not  have  well  received  similar  sentiments  from  any  oth- 
ers. He  maintained,  for  several  years,  an  extensive 
correspondence  with  English  clergymen  :  one  of  these, 
whom  he  held  in  much  estimation,  was  Rev.  John 
Newton,  rector  of  Olney  in  London.  Dr.  Robbins, 
coinciding  with  this  gentleman  in  religious  views,  im- 
ported numerous  volumes  of  his  works,  for  the  use  of 
those  of  his  parish  who  maintained  similar  sentiments. 
A  Doctorate  in  Divinity  was  conferred  on  him  at 
Dartmouth  college,  in  1792,  and  by  the  University  of 
Edinburgh,  in  1793.  His  pastoral  cares  were  very 
extensive,  comprising  the  whole  town,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  Ponds  parish,  subsequent  to  the  year  1781,  when 
the  third  church  and  society  united  with  the  first.  In 
the  discharge  of  his  laborious  duties,  he  was  ever 
found  faithful  and  kind.  He  preached,  chiefly  with- 
out notes,  having  before  him,  as  he  termed  it,  the  skele- 
ton of  his  sermon.  In  prayer,  he  was  peculiarly  de- 
votional and  fervent.  His  voice  was  melodious,  and 
his  taste  for  music,  both  vocal  and  instrumental,  was 
truly  refined.  Notwithstanding  his  parish  was  one  of 
the  largest  in  the  commonwealth,  and  a  considerable 
portion  entertained  sentiments  opposed  to  those  of  the 
pastor,  yet  not  a  family  but  could  unite  under  the  same 
altar  in  the  bonds  of  charity.  Whatever  may  have 
been  the  diversity  of  opinion  entertained  by  such  a  mul- 
titudinous assemblage,  peace  and  harmony  were  seldom 
interrupted,  nor  affection  and  respect  for  the  minister 
diminished.  Dr.  Robbins  was  consoled  and  encour- 
aged in  his  ministerial  labors  by  the  accession  of  about 
fifty  members  to  his  church  in  the  latter  part  of  his 
life,  and  an  uncommon  engagedness  in  the  cause  of  re- 
ligion among  the  people  of  his  charge.  The  poorest 
family  in  the  parish  would  meet  him  at  the  threshold 
27* 


318  ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY  [1799 

with  delight,  the  sick  and  afflicted  relying  with  perfect 
confidence  on  his  cordial  sympathy  and  condolence. 

Dr.  Robbins  was  destined  to  live  during  a  remarka- 
ble period  of  our  national  history.  In  the  revolutiona- 
ry struggle,  he  was  a  most  zealous  advocate  for  liberty 
and  independence,  and  rendered  essential  advantages 
to  the  cause  in  his  sphere  of  action.  He  was  among 
the  foremost  of  our  patriotic  clergymen,  and  subsequent- 
ly, when  our  political  hemisphere  w^as  darkened  by 
party  s[)irit,  he  pursued  a  consistent  course  in  the  sup- 
port of  order  and  good  government.  He  married  Jane 
Pjince,  of  Boston,  niece  of  the  late  Rev.  Thomas 
Prince,  the  annalist  of  New  England.  This  accom- 
plished lady  died  September  1800,  aged  60  years. 

Their  children  who  lived  to  adult  age,  were  five 
sons  and  two  daughters  ;  three  of  the  sons  were  grad- 
uatesof  Harvard,  one  of  whom  died  at  Marietta,  where 
he  was  settled  in  the  ministry.  Three  sons  and  a 
daughter  still  survive. 

Dr.  Robbins'  publications  bore  such  strong  marks  of 
the  divine,  the  gentlemayi,  and  the  scholar,  as  to  reflect 
much  honor  on  his  name  and  memory.  They  are  as 
follows  : — 

Replies  to  Essays  of  Rev.  John  Cotton,  on  the 
practice  of  the  half-way  covenant. — Sermon  on  the 
death  of  JVJadam  Watson,  consort  of  George  Watson, 
Esq.  of  Plymouth. — Sermon  on  the  death  of  Mrs.  Ho- 
vey,  wife  of  James  Hovey,  Esq. — At  the  ordination  of 
Rev.  Lemuel  Le  Baron  at  Rochester  1772. — At  the 
annual  election,  Boston,  1791. — Address  commemora- 
tive of  the  French  Revolution,  1793.— Sermon  on  the 
anniversary  of  the  landing  of  the  fathers  at  Plymouth, 
December  22d,  1793. — Century  Sermon  at  Kingston, 
April  2d,  1794,  at  the  request  of  its  subject,  Ebenezer 
Cobb. — Sermon  before  the  Massachusetts  Convention 
of  Ministers,  1794. — Sermon  at  the  ordination  of  Rev. 
Eliphalet  Gillet,  at  Hallowell,  August  12th,  1795.— Ad- 
dress before  the  Massachusetts  Humane  Society,  June 


1799]  OF   PLYMOUTH.  319 

14th,    1796. — Sermon    at   ordination  of  Rev.  Ward 
Cotton,  at  Boylston,  1797. 

After  the  death  of  Dr.  Robbins  the  pulpit  was  sup- 
plied by  the  ministers  who  composed  the  association 
to  which  he  belonged,  and  the  salary  was  continued 
for  the  benefit  of  the  widow  and  family.  The  selec- 
tion of  a  candidate  to  fill  the  office  of  pastor  to  this  an- 
cient church  and  congregation,  was  considered  as  a 
measure  requiring  great  circumspection.  A  clear  ma- 
jority were  in  favor  of  a  learned  and  enlightened  cler- 
gyman, possessing  liberal  principles,  free  from  all  sec- 
tarian dogmas,  who  would  preach  the  christian  salva- 
tion in  its  pure  simplicity,  while  a  respectable  minority 
manifested  a  conscientious  adherence  to  the  faith  and 
doctrines  of  their  late  beloved  minister,  whose  memo- 
ry they  cherished  with  filial  afl^ection.  Their  feelings 
and  desires  were  to  be  consulted,  and  it  would  have 
been  unkind  to  deprive  them  of  their  rights  or  to  con- 
trol their  opinions.  The  parish  committee  proceeded 
to  the  choice  of  a  candidate,  Mr.  James  Kendall,  a  na- 
tive of  Sterling,  who  commenced  his  probationary 
course  on  the  2d  sabbath  in  October,  1799.  In  De- 
cember, he  received  an  invitation  to  become  the  pas- 
tor of  the  church  and  congregation,  which  with  much 
deliberation,  he  accepted.  The  call  was  first  given  by 
the  church,*  23  to  15,  and  concurred  in  by  the  con- 
gregation, 253  to  15.  A  committee  of  three  from  the 
church,  and  five  from  the  parish,  was  chosen  to  make 
preparations  for  the  ordination.  The  day  appointed 
for   that  solemnity   was   January  1st,    1800;  and  the 

*  The  church  has  no  power  to  contract  with,  or  settle  a  minister  j 
but  that  power  resides  wholly  in  the  parish,  of  which  the  members 
of  the  church,  who  are  inliabitants,  are  a  part.  But  the  parish, 
from  an  ancient  and  respectable  usage,  wait  until  the  church  have 
made  choice  of  a  minister,  and  request  the  concurrence  of  the  par- 
ish ;  and  if  (he  parish  do  not  concur,  the  election  of  the  church  is  a 
nullity;  aid  if  the.  parish  do  concur,  then  a  contract  of  settlement 
is  made  wholly  between  the  parish  and  the  minister,  and  is  obliga- 
tory on  them  only. — Bigelow's  Digest. 


320  ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY  [1800 

churches  invited  were,  second  church  in  Andover, 
church  in  Sterling,  first  church  in  Cambridge,  church 
in  Dorchester,  third  in  Newbury,  Brattle  street  in  Bos- 
ton, church  in  Kingstonj  third  church  in  Biidgewater, 
church  in  Carver,  church  in  Marshfield,  second  in  Ply- 
mouth, second  in  Rochester,  first  in  Middleborough. 
Also,  were  invited  President  Willard,  Rev.  Dr.  Tap- 
pan,  and  all  ofthe  government  of  Harvard  college.  The 
sermon  was  preached  by  Rev.  Mr.  French,  of  Andover, 
and  the  other  solemnities  were  performed  by  Rev.  Dr. 
Peter  Thacher,  Rev.  Dr.  Tappan,  Rev.  Mr".  W.  Shaw, 
and  Rev.  Mr.  Howland,  of  Carver.  On  the  follow- 
ing sabbath  two  excellent  sermons  were  preached  by 
Dr.  Tappan,  which  were  published.  Rev.  Mr.  Ken- 
dall graduated  at  Cambridge,  in  1796,  and  was  a  tu- 
tor there  when  he  received  the  invitation  to  settle. 
The  honorary  degree  of  D.  D.  was  conferred  on  him 
at  Harvard  university  in  1825.  The  conditions  of 
settlement  were,  600  doHars  salary,  and  the  improve- 
ment of  the  parsonage,  consisting  of  a  house  and  gar- 
den, and  several  pieces  of  land  and  meadow  ;  subse- 
quently, one  hundred  dollars  were  added,  in  consider- 
ation of  fire  wood. 

In  October,  1800,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Dwight,  then  Pre- 
sident at  Yale  college,  passed  a  sabbath  in  this  town, 
and  officiated  in  our  pulpit.  In  his  third  volume  of 
travels,  he  makes  the  following  remark,  '  On  Sunday, 
we  found  a  large  and  very  decent  audience  in  the 
old  church.  A  singular  custom  was  here  exhibited  to 
us  ;  more  than  fifty  bills  were  read  by  the  clergymen, 
desiring  the  prayers  of  the  congregation  for  families  in 
affliction.  They  were,  principally,  occasioned  by  the 
death  of  nine  inhabitants,  almost  all  of  them  at  sea, 
which  had  either  happened,  or  been  first  heard  of, 
during  the  preceding  week.  In  such  a  case,  it  seems 
a  bill  is  presented  for  every  branch  of  a  family,  which 
is  peculiarly  interested  in  the  melancholy  event.'  This 
practice  is  now,  in  a  great  measure,  discontinued. 


1814]  OF    PLYMOUTH.  321 

In  1801,  the  third  congregational  church  of  Ply- 
mouth was  organized  from  the  first  church,  and  is  the 
seventh  branch  from  the  original  stock,  now  existing. 
In  1802,  deacon  John  Bishop  end  one  hundred  and 
fifty  three  others  were  incorporated  into  a  society,  by 
the  name  of  the  tliird  congregational  society.  In  their 
petition,  they  stated  the  first  parish  consisted  of  3044 
souls,  and  more  than  500  rateable  polls,  making  it  in- 
convenient to  w^orsliip  in  one  house.  This  new  socie- 
ty erected  a  house  of  worship,  in  1801,  in  a  pleasant 
situation  fronting  the  training  green,  sixty  feet  by  fifty- 
two,  with  a  cupola  and  ball.  Their  first  minister  was 
Rev.  Adoniram  Judson,  who  had  formerly  been  pastor 
of  a  church  and  society  at  Maiden,  county  of  Middlesex. 
He  was  installed  May  12th,  1802,  and  becoming  a  bap- 
tist, the  connexion  was   dissolved   August  12ih,  1817. 

Mr.  Judson  was  held  in  respect  for  his  moral  virtues, 
and  his  meek  and  pious  demeanor.  He  died  in  Scitu- 
ate,  in  1826.  The  oldest  son  of  Mr.  Judson  has  been 
a  zealous  and  respectable  Baptist  Missionary  in  the 
Birman  emi)ire,  since  the  year  1812.  The  Rev.  Wil- 
liam T.  Torrey  succeeded  Mr.  Judson,  and  was  installed 
January  1st,  1818,  and  he  was  dismissed  March  12th 
1823.  It  is  understood  that  the  cause  of  his  dismission 
existed  with  the  church,  there  being  a  majority  in  the 
congregation  in  his  favor. 

On  the  26th  of  November,  1814,  the  first  church 
was  called  to  mourn  the  death  of  a  pious  and  beloved 
brother,  deacon  William  Crombie,  aged  eighty-three 
years.  lie  was  a  native  of  Andover,  and  officiated  in 
the  office  of  deacon  nearly  thirty-eight  years.  '  He 
was,'  says  the  church  records,  '  a  good  man  and  an  ex- 
cellent spirit  was  in  him.'  This  was  fully  verified  du- 
ing  the  whole  course  of  his  life,  being  meek  and  hum- 
ble in  his  temper,  few  men  exhibited  clearer  evidence 
of  a  pure  and  upright  heart.  He  had  several  children  ; 
but  one  only,  the  widow  of  the  late  Dr.  Nathaniel 
Bradstreet,  of  Newburyport,  survives. 


322  ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY  [1824 

In  1814,  a  new  church  and  society  were  formed  at 
Eel  river,  from  the  first  and  third  congregations,  and 
being  incorporated,  they  erected  a  meeting-house  in 
that  village,  which  is  now  undergoing  improvement  in 
a  better  style,  and  will  accommodate  the  inhabitants  in 
that  vicinhy  and  South  Ponds,  who  were  distant  from 
three  to  six  miles,  from  their  former  place  of  worship. 
This  is  the  fourth  congregational  church  and  society 
in  Plymouth,  and  the  Rev.  Benjamin  Whitmore  is  their 
minister. 

A  Baptist  church  was  constituted  here  in  1809,  and 
the  Rev.  Lewis  Leonard  was  ordained  their  first  pas- 
tor. Rev.  Caleb  Blood,  of  Boston,  preached  the  ser- 
mon. Mr.  Leonard  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Stephen 
S.  Nelson,  July  28th,  1820,  who  continued  his  con- 
nexion till  May  1823,  when  Rev.  Benjamin  Grafton 
became  their  pastor.  He  resigned  in  May  1829,  when 
the  office  devolved  on  Rev.  Thomas  Conant,  their 
present  pastor.  In  1821,  this  society  erected  a  com- 
modious house   of  worship,  in  Spring  street. 

We  have  a  small  society  in  town  of  the  denomina- 
tion called  Christians.  The  sentiments  of  this  denom- 
ination have  been  explained  at  large  by  Rev.  Mr. 
Clough.  They  object  to  the  Trinity  and  other  Calvin- 
istic  doctrines.  By  some  they  are  called  Free-will 
Baptists.  Mr.  Joshua  V.  Himes  was  ordained  their 
minister,  in  1825.  This  connexion  was  soon  dissolved 
but  without  any  faulty  conduct  on  his  part. 

In  1824,  Rev.  Frederic  Freeman  succeeded  Rev. 
"William  T.  Torrey,  as  pastor  of  the  third  church  and 
congregation  in  this  town,  and  was  installed  according- 
ly, having  been  ordained  in  North  Carolina,  as  an 
Evangelist.  Their  house  was,  in  1827,  enlarged  52 
feet  by  12,  making  its  present  dimension  72  feet  by 
52,  and  the  interior  of  the  lower  part  was  made  new, 
substituting  a  more  modern  style.  The  house  has  also 
a  spacious  room,  52  feet  by  16,  which  is  used  for  par- 
ish and  occasional  meetings. 


1831]  OF   PLYMOUTH.  323 

The  third  church  are  in  sentiment  as  they  have 
ever  been,  Calvinistic. 

In  1826,  the  first  Universalist  Society  in  Plymouth 
was  incorporated,  and  they  erected  a  meeting-house, 
on  the  north  sideof  Leyden  street,  50  feet  by  70,  with 
a  cupola  and  bell.  Rev.  James  H.  Bugbee  is  their 
ordained  minister.  This  society,  as  a  body,  belong  to 
that  class  of  Universalists  who  disbelieve  the  doctrine 
of  future  punishment. 

In  1830,  the  third  congregational  church  were  agi- 
tated by  a  spirit  of  dissension  towards  the  present  pas- 
tor. A  considerable  portion  of  the  church  manifested 
a  desire  that  the  pastoral  connexion  should  be  dissolved, 
but  it  was  otherwise  determined,  and  attempts  were  then 
made  to  compromise  by  an  amicable  division  of  the 
church;  and  it  was  proposed,  by  the  pastor,  to  call 
a  mutual  council,  not  to  effect  a  reconciliation,  but  to 
sanction  the  measure  of  a  separation.  The  council 
convened  accordingly,  on  the  17th  of  March,  and  the 
result  of  their  deliberations  was  a  separation  of  the 
disaffected  party,  to  be  formed  into  a  distinct  church. 
The  seceding  division  then  convened  a  council,  April 
13th,  by  whom  they  were  organized,  and  they  are  de- 
nominated the  Robinson  Cons^regatioiial  Church. 
This  is  the  fifth  in  Plymouth,  and  a  society  consisting 
of  seceders  from  the  third  congregation,  having  united 
with  them,  they,  in  1831,  erected  a  handsome  house  of 
worship  in  Pleasant  street,  and  engaged  Rev.  Charles 
J.  Warren,  as  their  religious  instructer.  Thus  our 
churches  multiply  by  divisions  and  subdivisions.  To 
notice  the  numerous  admissions,  removals,  and  instan- 
ces of  discipline,  and  the  comparative  states  of  the  sev- 
eral churches,  would  be  to  increase  the  number  of  pa- 
ges without  benefit  or  interest  to  my  readers. 

In  the  year  1831,  the  first  parish  in  Plymouth  came 
to  the  resolution  to  demolish  their  old  meeting-house, 
which  was  in  a  state  of  decay,  having  stood  eighty- 
seven  years.     A  large  proportion^  of  the  pews,  from 


324  ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY  [1831 

the  numerous  changes  that  had  taken  place  for  years 
past,  were  in  the  hands  of  persons  not  connected  with 
the  parish  ;  and  those  who  were  desirous  of  becoming 
proprietors,  would  not  involve  themselves  in  the  ex- 
penses to  which  a  decayed  house  is  constantly  liable. 
A  committee  of  disinterested  persons  was  appointed  to 
appraise  the  pews  in  the  old  house,  and  the  building 
was  sold  at  auction.  In  bidding  adieu  to  this  ancient 
temple,  to  which  the  society  retained  a  devoted  attach- 
ment, as  the  house  of  their  fathers  worship,  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Kendall,  on  the  lOih  of  April,  1831,  preached  an 
appropriate  sermon  in  his  excellent  style,  in  which  he 
gave  a  brief  history  of  our  ancient  church,  and  a  de- 
tail of  the  several  societies  derived  from  it.  During 
the  interval  of  eight  months  in  which  the  new  house 
was  in  building,  the  church  and  congregation  held 
their  public  worship  in  the  county  court-house,  where 
they  were  provided  with  convenient  accommodations, 

JVew  Meeting- House  of  the  First  Parish. 
'  Beautiful  in  its 'elevation  is  Mount  Zion.' 

On  Wednesday,  the  Hth  of  December,  1831,  the 
new  meeting-house  of  the  first  parish  was  dedicated  to 
the  worship  and  service  of  God.  A  numerous  and  high- 
ly respectable  congregation  was  assembled.  Prayers 
and  reading  the  scriptures  were  performed  by  Rev. 
Mr.  Kent,  of  Duxbury,  Rev.  JVIr.  Goodwin,  of  Sand- 
wich, and  Rev.  Mr.  Cole,  of  Kingston.  The  Rev. 
pastor,  *Dr.  Kendall,  delivered  an  excellent  catholic 
sermon,  from  Ezra  vi.  16.  Among  the  various  topics, 
the  speaker  adverted  with  reverence  to  the  venerable 
pastor  of  the  pilgrims,  and  his  puritan  associates.  In 
speaking  of  the  sacred  temple,  his  invocation  is,  '  May 
these  consecrated  walls  never  reverberate  with  licen- 
tious opinions,  the  shouts  of  fanaticism,  nor  the  denun- 
ciations of  bigotry.'  The  services  were  closed  by  a 
fervent  and  impressive  prayer  by  Rev.  Mr.  Brooks,  of 


1831]  OF  PLYMOUTH.  325 

Ilingham.  During  the  services,  four  hymns  were 
sung,  three  of  which  were  composed  for  the  occasion. 
The  worshippers  in  this  house  are  Unitarians;  be- 
lieving that  '  Unitarian  Christianity  is  the  only  system 
of  faith  and  duty  which  can  be  drawn  from  the  New 
Testament  by  a  just  interpretation  of  its  contents.' 

This  noble  edifice  is  composed   of  wood,   and  is  a 
beautiful  specimen  of  church  architecture.     It  was  de- 
signed by  George  W.  Brimmer,  Esq.,  of  Boston,  and 
executed  by  an  ingenious  artist,  Mr.   Richard   Bond, 
of  Boston,  who  completed  the  work  in  a  manner  high- 
ly creditable  to  himself  and  satisfactory  to  the  parish. 
The  body  of  this  church   measures   71  feet  by  60, 
and  from  the  floor  to  the  spring  of  the   ceiling  is  36J 
feet, — is  without  galleries,  except  that  for  the  singers, 
which  is  in  the  tower,  ov^r  the  entrance  into  the  lower 
part  of  the  house,  and  opens  under  a  large  gothic  arch 
of  42   feet  base.     This  gallery  is  lighted  by  the  high 
gothic  window  in  front,  and  thus  the  whole   length  of 
the  building  is  seen  from  the  pulpit.     The   floor  ac- 
commodates 124  pews,  the  interior  of  which  are  paint- 
ed light  green,  while  the  exteriors  are  in  beautiful  imi- 
tation of  oak,  by  Mr.  Whitaker,  and  are  capped  with 
mahogany.     The    side  windows,  which   are  eighteen 
feet  high,  and  seven  feet  wide,  contain  284  diamond 
lights  each  ; — the  glass  being  ground,  the  light  is  uni- 
form and  agreeable.     The  pulpit  is  of  com.mon  form, 
the  pannels  and  balusters  gothic,  and  the  whole  paint- 
ed in  imitation  of  oak.     A  crimson  silk  curtain  is  sus- 
pended from  a  gothic  cornice,  and  on  each  side  of  the 
pulpit  is  a  candelabra   supporting  a  handsome  bronze 
lamp  ;  and  there  is  also  on  each  side  a  smaller  lamp, 
on  a  moveable  stand.     The  house  is  warmed  by  two 
furnaces  in  the  lower  apartment,  the  heat   ascending 
through  a  niche  on  each  side  of  the  door.     The  front 
is  four  feet  wider  than  the  body  of  the  church,  has  a 
tower  projecting  11 J  feet,  and  rising  87  feet  in  height, 
with  encircled  octagon  pillars  at  the  corners,  surmount- 
28 


326  ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY  [1831 

ed  with  ornamental  pinnacles,  and  has  wings,  with 
similar  pillars  at  their  corners  and  on  the  sides.  The 
wings  contain  the  stairs  which  lead  to  the  singers'  gal- 
lery and  to  the  belfry.  The  front  door  is  pannelled 
and  of  a  low  arch,  over  which  is  a  quatrefoil  band. 
Above  this  is  the  front  window,  36  feet  high  and  12J 
feet  wide,  containing  540  diamond  lights,  and  is  di- 
vided, like  the  side  windows,  into  three  divisions,  with 
gothic  scrolls  at  the  bottom.  The  whole  expense  of 
this  superb  building,  including  the  cellar,  does  not  ex- 
ceed $10,000.  In  the  afternoon  on  the  day  of  the 
dedication,  the  pews  were  offered  at  auction,  and  103 
were  sold  at  an  advance  above  the  appraisal  of  nearly 
$1800.  The  amount  of  sales  has  been  sufficient  to 
defray  the  expense  of  building  the  new  house,  to  pay 
the  pew  holders  in  the  old  house,  and  leave  a  surplus 
of  about  $2,500. 

During  the  building  of  this  house,  the  workmen  re- 
frained entirely  from  the  use  of  ardent  spirits. 

The  first  house  of  worship  in  this  town  was  erected 
in  1648,  it  stood  lower  down  in  the  town  square  than 
the  site  of  the  present  house  :  and  was  furnished  with 
a  belL  In  1683,  another  was  built  on  the  same  spot, 
45  feet  by  40,  and  18  feet  in  the  walls  unceiled,  gothic 
roof,  diamond  glass,  with  a  small  cupola  and  bell.  In 
1744,  a  third  church  was  erected  on  this  consecrated 
ground,  the  raising  commenced  on  the  17th  of  July,  and 
on  the  29th  of  the  same  month  it  was  opened  for  public 
w^orship.  The  dimensions  were  about  72  by  64  feet, 
and  the  spire  was  100  feet  high,  surmounted  with  a 
handsome  brass  weathercock.  In  the  same  year  a  sece- 
ding society  erected  a  meeting  house  in  Middle  street ; 
this  was  the  effect  of  great  zeal  in  new  light  times,  and 
there  was  no  other  secession  during  the  remainder  of 
the  last  century.  Since  the  commencement  of  the  pre- 
sent century,  eight  houses  for  public  worship  have  been 
erected  here,  either  by  new  societies  or  by  rebuilding. 

The  ancient  church  stands  at  the  present  time  on  a 


1832]  OF   PLYMOUTH,  327 

firm  basis,  and  is  in  prosperity,  worshipping  the  God  of 
our  fathers,  rejecting  some  of  their  dogmas,  but  cher- 
ishing the  same  essential  principles  of  christian  ftiith 
and  practice,  and  acquiescing  to  the  fullest  extent  in 
the  free  enjoyment  of  each  individual  in  the  mode  of 
worship  which  conscience  may  dictate. 

In  the  year  1819,  Dr.  Francis  Le  Baron,  then  in 
public  service  at  New  York,  presented  an  elegant  set  of 
desk  bibles  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  first  church 
and  society  in  Plymouth,  as  a  testimony  of  his  respect 
and  regard  for  the  society  with  which  his  ancestors  had 
been  connected,  and  the  church  where  he  received 
christian  baptism. 

In  1822,  Hon.  Judge  Davis  having  had  the  loan  of 
the  church  records  for  the  purpose  of  compiling  a  new 
edition  of  MoTton's  New  England  Memorial,  with  con- 
siderable additions,  and  having  for  that  purpose  extract- 
ed about  one  hundred  pages  from  said  records,  propos- 
ed to  vest  the  copy-right  of  this  new  edition  of  the  Me- 
morial in  the  first  church  and  society  of  Plymouth,  the 
profits  to  be  applied  "  to  the  relief  of  the  poor.  But 
subsequently  he  proposed  that  the  copy-right  should  be 
transferred  to  the  Pilgrim  Society,  on  the  condition  that 
the  said  society  deliver  to  the  first  church  one  hundred 
and  ten  copies  of  said  work  for  every  3000  copies 
which  they  may  publislr,  and  in  the  same  proportion 
for  a  greater  or  less  number,  being  in  full  for  a  consid- 
eration of  the  transfer. 

It  is  remarkable  that  the  meeting  house  which  was 
built  in  1683,  was,  on  the  3d  of  June,  1715,  struck  by  ' 
lightning,  and  considerably  shattered,  and  on  the  22d 
of  November,  1831,  the  present  house,  when  nearly 
finished,  suffered  a  similar  fate  ;  the  north-east  pinnacle 
was  entirely  destroyed,  with  some  other  damage,  and 
the  whole  edifice  narrowly  escaped  conflagration. 
Fortunately  the  building  was  insured,  and  the  expense 
of  repairs  was  paid  by  the  underwriters.  .A  few  years 
since,  a  large  elm  tree  standing  within  a  iQVf  yards  of 


328  ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORr.  [1832 

the  same  place,  was  so  much  injured  by  lightning  that 
it  died  soon  after.  These  incidents  serve  to  show  the 
expediency  of  lightning-rods  and  of  insurance. 

In  closing  this  history  our  spirits  are  animated  with 
the  prospect  of  amendment  in  our  moral  world,  and  in 
our  day.  The  unrighteous  spirit  of  intolerance  and 
persecution,  binding  down  the  human  mind  by  bonds  of 
religious  faith,  is  evidently  on  the  wane.  We  have  a 
cheering  hope  that  our  moral  feelings  will  no  longer  be 
disturbed  by  the  practice  of  aspersing  the  characters  of 
pious  and  exemplary  men  on  the  grounds  of  difference 
of  opinion  in  mysterious  points  of  doctrine.  This  un- 
charitable temper  has  too  long  been  a  scourge  to  socie- 
ty, and  we  can  have  no  sympathy  with  proceedings  so 
manifestly  inconsistent  with  the  christian  character. 
By  indulgence  these  guilty  passions  ^in  strength, 
harden  the  heart  of  man,  and  lead  to  licentiousness. 
But  we  rejoice  that  the  day  lias  arrived  when  every 
citizen  may  think  as  he  pleases  upon  subjects  of  reli- 
gion, and  quietly  offer  his  devotions  in  whatever  temple, 
and  whatever  form  his  own  judgment  and  conscience 
may  prescribe  for  him. 

A  learned,  and  candid  spirited  clergyman  having 
perused  the  foregoing  church  history,  offers  the  following 
as  a  closing  paragraph. 

'  In  reading  over  the  foregoing  pages,  the  writer 
would  unite  with  his  candid  readers  in  a  grateful  ac- 
knowledgment of  the  rich  mercies  of  the  God  of  hea- 
ven to  this  most  ancient  church  of  the  United  States. 
The  little  band  of  Pilgrims,  who  stepped  upon  this  in- 
hospitable shore  212  years  ago,  with  no  support  but  the 
Almighty  arm,  so  often  made  bare  for  their  protection, 
have  now  become  a  great  people.  And  we  trust  they 
are  destined  by  Divine  Providence,  as  they  have  hith- 
erto done,  still  to  perform  an  important  part  in  form- 
ing the  character  of  the  American  church  and  the  Ame- 
rican empire.' 


APPENDIX. 


Wree  Schools. — The  first  Free  School  in  New  Eng* 
land  ordained  by  law,  was  established  in  Plymouth  in 
1671,  under  a  grant,  made   by  the  government  of  the 
Colony  the  preceding  year,   'of  all  such  profits,  as 
might  or  should   annually  accrue  to  the  Colony,  from 
time  to  time,   for  fishing   with  nets  or  seines  at  Cape 
Cod,   for  mackerel,   bass  or  herrings,  to  be   improved 
for  and  towards  a  Free   School  in  some  town  of  this 
jurisdiction,   provided  a  beginning  were   made   within 
one  year  after  the  grant. '     Plymouth  made  a  beginning 
within  the  time  limited,  by  establishing  a  school  under 
the  instruction  of  Mr.  John  Morton,  who  was  a  nephew  of 
the  Secretary,     In  the  following  year,  the  court,  (the 
governor   and    assistants)  to  whom  the  general   court 
(the  governor,  assistants  and  deputies)   had  intrusted 
the  care  and   appropriation  of  the  grant,   declared   the 
school  in  Plymouth  entitled  to  its  avails,  and  appointed 
Thomas  Hinckley,  steward  of  the  said  school,  to  take 
charge  of  its  funds.    In  the  same  year,  1672,  the  profits 
and  benefits  of  the  Agawarn  and  Sippican  lands  were 
appropriated  by  the  town  to  the  maintenance  of  the 
Free    School  then   begun  in  town,  '  and  not  to  be  es- 
tranged from  that  end. '     Though  Mr.  Morton's  school 
was  strictly  entitled,  by  the  terms  of  the  colony  grant, 
to  its   benefit,  yet,  as  he  only  taught  *  to  read,  write, 
and  cast  accounts, '  it  failed  perhaps  under  his  instruc- 
tion to  meet  the  expectations  of  the  country.     In  the 
year  last  menlioned,   1672,  a  Mr.  Corlet,  a  graduate 
28* 


HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1832 

of  Cambridge,  wss  the  Instructer.  It  would  seem,  that 
the  higher  standard  of  school  learning,  under  Mr.  Cor- 
let,  did  not  please  the  town  much  better,  than  the  plain 
education,  under  Mr.  Morton,  had  satisfied  the  govern- 
ment. Two  years  after,  viz.  in  1674,  the  town,  as  if 
apprehensive  that  the  Latin  and  Greek  were  encroach- 
ing on  the  more  useful  department,  after  limiting  the 
grant,  which  it  had  made  of  the  Agawaam  and  Sippican 
lands,  to  such  only  as  had  purchased  of  the  Indians 
previous  thereto,  enter  these  directions,  '  that  their 
children  be  instructed  in  reading,  when  they  are  entered 
in  the  Bible ;  and  also,  that  they  be  taught  to  write  and 
cipher,  beside  that  which  the  country  (that  is,  the  co- 
lonial government)  expects  from  said  school.'  In  call- 
ing this  school  the  first  Free  School  in  New  England 
ordained  by  law,  we  are  not  unmindful  of  the  law  of 
1647,  in  the  neighboring  colony  of  Massachusetts.  But 
that  law  did  not  ordain  Free  Schools,  but  a  reasonable 
tax  on  the  scholars  was  left  to  the  discretion  of  the 
towns.  Nearly  all  the  schools  in  that  colony  in  1671, 
and  much  later,  were  supported  in  part  by  such  a  tax ; 
but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  Boston,  a  free  school 
actually  existed  before  this  period,  and  perhaps  one  or 
two  elsewhere  in  that  jurisdiction. 

The  charge  of  the  Free  School  in  Plymouth  was 
thirty  three  pounds  per  annum.  Previous  to  this  ex- 
cellent institution,  common  school  learning,  we  are  to 
infer,  was  easily  accessible.  Among  the  court  orders 
are  entries  like  this  :  'Benjamin  Eaton,  with  his  mother's 
consent,  put  to  Bridget  Fuller,  being  to  keep  him  at 
school  two  years,  and  employ  him  after,  in  such  service 
as  she  saw  good,  and  he  shall  be  fit  for.  February 
11th,  1635.' 

Notice  is  again  taken  of  the  free  school  by  the  gene- 
ral court  in  1674,  and  the  Cape  Fishery  money  appro- 
priated to  it.  It  is  probable  that  Mr.  Corlet  left  the 
school  this  year,  and  in  the  next  commenced  that  most 
distressing  period  of  colonial  history,  the  war  with  King 


1832]  APPENDIX.  331 

Philip.     There  was  no  grammar  master  until   1699 

in  the  mean  time  the  Cape  funds  were  diverted,  and 
distributed  among  all  the  towns  in  the  jurisdiction. 
The  school  has  since  been  kept  up  under  a  regular 
succession  of  grammar  masters,  though  after  the  diver- 
sion of  the  Cape  funds,  small  assessments  were  made 
on  the  scholars,  according  to  thefr  learning.  The 
great  importance  of  free  schools  has  been  fully  appre- 
ciated by  the  present  generation,  who  have  been  as 
well  disposed  as  their  progenitors,  and  better  able,  to 
promote  them.  In  1803,  1220  dollars  were  voted 
for  all  the  schools  in  town,  and  in  1831  and  for  sever- 
al preceding  years  2625  dollars  have  been  appropria- 
ted to  their  support.  There  are  fifteen  districts, 
among  which  the  sum  of  two  thousand  dollars  is  an- 
nually distributed,  according  to  the  number  of  children 
in  each  between  six  and  sixteen,  which  number  in  the 
whole,  by  a  census  taken  in  1827,  amounted  to  1028. 
In  1795  a  school  for  girls  was  instituted  by  the  town, 
to  be  kept  in  the  summer  months,  at  intervals  of  the 
town  school.  The  central  school  district  was  separa- 
ted in  1826,  at  which  time  the  town,  or  high  school 
as  it  has  been  since  denominated,  was  placed  on  an 
improved  footing,  and  a  quarterly  examination  is  had 
for  admission  to  it  from  all  the  districts. 

The  first  school  house  was  built  by  subscription  in 
1705,  and  stood  a  little  south  of  the  meeting  house  of 
the  first  parish;  in  the  next  year,  however,  it  was  pur- 
chased by  the  town.  The  present  school  house,  on 
the  northerly  side  of  the  meeting  house,  was  built  in 
1765.  It  appears  to  have  been  the  usage  for  a  long 
series  of  years  to  vote  a  school  for  three,  four  or  seven 
years.  A  vote  of  this  kind  in  1725,  locating  the  school 
in  the  centre  for  seven  years,  giving  '  the  ends '  liberty 
to  deduct  their  rates,  to  support  a  school  among  them- 
selves, led  to  the  immediate  incorporation  of  Kingston. 
The  first  notice  of  district  school  houses  is  in  1714, 
viz.  one  at  Jones  river,  and  one  at  Eel  river. 


332  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1832 

From  1661  to  1831,  fifty  persons,  natives  of  this 
town  were  graduated  at  Harvard  university,  and  two 
or  more  at  Yale  college.  Of  this  number  thirteen 
were  congregational  ministers,  twelve  lawyers,  nine 
physicians,  and  thirteen  or  more  merchants;  the  residue 
V.  ere  engaged  in  various  pursuits. 

Our  Sunday  school  first  commenced  in  the  third 
parish  in  the  year  1818.  In  the  first  parish  the  school 
was  established  in  1827.  The  number  of  children 
who  have  been  members  of  the  school  belonging  to 
the  first  parish  has  been  from  one  hundred  sixty  to  two 
hundred,  and  the  number  of  teachers  twenty -five. 
And  it  is  a  remarkable  circumstance,  that  up  to  Au- 
gust, 1831,  there  had  not  occurred  a  death  of  any  per- 
son who  has  been  connected  with  it  either  as  teacher 
or  pupil. 

A  Sunday  school  is  now  established  in  each  of  the 
parishes  in  town,  with  a  single  exception.  Great  praise 
is  due  to  our  sabbath  school  teachers  for  their  zeal  and 
faithfulness  in  imparting  christian  knowledge  to  our 
youth.  The  whole  number  of  attendants  during  1831 
was  about  four  hundred,  males  and  females.  It  is  in- 
deed to  be  desired  that  all  our  youth  may  enjoy  the 
benefit  of  this  inestimable  institution,  that  their  earhest 
impressions  may  be  the  nature  of  the  gospel,  and  the 
moral  and  religious  duties  which  it  enjoins. 

Statistics. — Census  of  the  town,  at  different  periods. 
1764.  256  Houses,  373  Famihes.  2246  persons, 

including  77  Negroes  and  48  Indians. 
1776.  Whites  only  2655. 

1783.  including  35  negroes,  2380,  number 

diminished  by  the  war. 

United  States  Census. 

1791     -         -         souls         -  2995 

1800 3524 

1810  -         -         -         -  4228 

1820 4384 

1830  ....  4751 


1632J  APPENDIX.  333 

Increase  last  ten  years  367 ;  8J  per.  cent. 

Nunnber  of  dwelling  houses  in  1815,  409.  In  1831, 
643.  Number  ofrateable  polls  in  1831,  1091.  Num- 
ber of  shops  for  the  sale  of  West  India  and  English  goods 
in  1831,  about  30. 

The  annual  sum  appropriated  for  town  expenses 
is  from  |8000  to  ^'9000,  besides  the  labor  on  the 
roads. 

But  a  few  of  the  dwelling  houses  are  of  ancient  date, 
or  in  antique  style,  eight  or  ten  are  three  stories,  and  six 
or  eight  are  of  brick.  Those  recently  erected,  are  in 
the  style  of  modern  architecture.  The  largest  propor- 
tion are  painted  of  a  light  color,  with  green  blinds,  giv- 
ing them  an  air  of  neatness  and  elegance.  Strangers 
who  visit  us  generally  express  themselves  agreeably 
disappointed,  and  allow  that  our  town  will  compare 
with  any  village  in  New  England.  In  the  number  of 
houses,  and  in  architectural  taste,  our  improvements 
have  been,  and  are  now,  increasing  more  rapidly  than 
ever  before  ;  and  we  gratefully  acknowledge,  in  com- 
mon with  our  fellow  citizens,  that  we  live  in  the  best 
country,  and  in  the  most  prosperous  age,  which  the 
v/orld  ever  knew. 

The  following  streets  and  squares  received  their  de- 
signation in  1823. 

Leydcn  Street  is  that  which  was  laid  forth  in  1620, 
being  the  first  street  ever  opened  in  Pl3'mouth.  It  ex- 
tends from  the  town  square  to  Water  Street. 

Market  Street  commences  at  the  town  house  on  the 
westerly  side,  and  Bramhall's  corner,  so  termed,  on  the 
east  side,  and  extends  south  only  to  the  stone  arch 
bridge. 

Summer  Street  extends  south  westerly  from  Market 
Street,  to  the  fork  of  roads  beyond  the  rolling  mill. 

Spring  Street  is  the  avenue  extending  northerly 
fs^om  Summer  Street  to  the  Burial  Hill.  It  was  called 
Spring  Lane  by  the  first  planters,  as  it  led  from  their 


334  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [1832         ^, 

Fort  Hill  to  a  well  known  spring  near  the  upper  corn 
mill. 

High  Street  extends  southwesterly  from  Market 
Street,  over  rising  ground,  crossing  Spring  Street,  to 
Trible's  corner  on  the  east  side,  and  Bartlett's  corner 
on  the  west  side. 

Pleasant  Street  extends  from  the  stone  arch  bridge, 
over  the  hill  known  by  the  name  of  Watson's  Hill  to  the 
Training  Green. 

King's  Lane  is  the  avenue  anciently  known  by  that 
name,  leading  from  Summer  street,  and  crossing  Lit- 
tle Brook  to  the  termination  of  High  street. 

Mill  Lane  is  the  avenue  from  the  lower  corn  mill 
to  Summer  street. 

Sandwich  Street  is  the  ancient  street  on  the  south 
side  of  the  town  brook,  extending  south-easterly  from 
the  stone  arch  bridge  by  Training  Green  to  WelHngsly 
brook.     This  is  the  post  road  to  Cape  Cod. 

JVorth  Street  begins  at  Warren's  corner  on  the 
south  side,  and  Dr.  Cotton's  corner  on  the  north  side, 
and  ends  at  Water  street. 

Water  Street  commences  at  the  termination  of 
North  street,  and  extends  southerly  by  the  head  of  the 
wharves,  across  the  lower  bridge,  and  ends  at  its  junc- 
tion with  Sandwich  street. 

Middle  Street, [(ormerly  known  by  the  title  of  King's 
street,  leads  from  Main  street  to  Cole's  Hill. 

Main  Street  begins  at  Hedge's  corner  on  the  east 
side,  and  at  Wetherell's  corner  on  the  west  side,  and 
extends  north-north-west  by  the  head  of  North  street, 
to  Cotton's  corner. 

Court  Street  begins  at  Cotton's  corner,  and  extends 
north-westerly  to  Wood's  lane.  The  elm  trees  on  the 
west  side  of  this  street  were  planted  in  1830. 

School  Street  is  the  avenue  which  extends  northerly 
from  the  first  meeting  house  by  the  head  of  the  gar- 
dens to  the  new  court  house. 


1832]  APPENDIX.  335 

JVorth  Alley  extends  northerly  from  Middle  Street 
to  North  Street. 

South  Alley  is  the  opposite  alley  leading  from  Mid- 
dle Street  to  Leyden  Street. 

Training  Green  is  a  handson::e  square  on  the  south 
side  of  the  town  brook,  laid  out  many  years  since  by 
the  town  in  perpetuity,  for  the  convenience  of  training 
companies. 

Town  Square  is  a  handsome  public  square  at  the 
head  of  Leyden  Street,  directly  in  front  of  the  meeting 
house  of  the  first  parish,  having  the  old  court  house 
(now  town  house)  on  the  south,  and  the  dwelling  house 
and  garden  of  Mr.  Brigham  Russel,  formerly  owned 
and  occupied  by  Capt.  Thomas  Davis,  deceased,  on  the 
north  side.  This  square  has  a  gradual  descent  into 
Leyden  Street,  and  unites  with  Water  Street.  It  is 
ornamented  by  six  majestic  elm  trees,  the  planting  of 
which  the  present  author  witnessed  in  1784,  being 
brought  from  Portsmouth  by  Capt.  Davis.  The  largest 
now  measures  in  circumference  8  feet  8  inches,  averag- 
ing about  2  inches  annual  growth  in  a  very  ordinary 
soil. 

Court  Square,  formerly  Training  Green,  is  in  front 
of  the  new  court  house  and  Mrs.  Nicholson's  boarding 
house.  The  elm  trees  in  that  square  were  planted  in 
May,  1832. 

Public  Buildings.  We  have  in  town  eight  houses  for 
public  worship,  where  thirty  years  ago  two  were  found 
sufficient.  The  busy  workings  of  sectarianism  have 
excited  a  singular  passion  for  multiplying  meeting 
houses,  as  though  religion  requires  one  for  every  chap- 
ter in  the  bible,  and  our  religious  societies  are  so  mi- 
nutely divided  that  our  ministers  receive  but  a  slender 
support.  When  will  the  varying  sects  return  to  the  com- 
mon fold  ? 

The  County  Court  House,  in  our  Court  Square,  is 
allowed  to  be  an  elegant  edifice.  It  was  erected  in 
1820,  of  brick,  and  in  point  of  symmetry  and  just  pro- 
portion, it  is  in  perfect  keeping  with  the  best  models 


336  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH.  [J  832 

of  modern  architecture.  On  the  lower  floor  is  a  fire- 
proof apartment  for  each  of  the  offices  of  clerk  of  the 
courts,  the  register  of  deeds  and  of  probate,  and  also  a 
jury-room.  Above,  there  is  an  elegant  court  chamber, 
a  jury-room,  a  law  library  apartment,  and  two  jury- 
rooms  behind  the  gallery.  The  jail  was  also  erected  in 
1820.  It  is  of  un  wrought  stone,  except  the  front  which  is 
wrought,  and  is  in  all  respects  adapted  to  the  purpose  for 
which  it  was  designed.  The  house  for  the  jail-keeper  is 
of  wood,  and  is  a  handsome  and  commodious  building. 
The  old  county  court  house  is  converted  into  a  town 
house,  and  we  have  school  houses  in  the  centre  dis- 
trict. 

Pilgrim  Hall.  For  a  description  of  this  edifice, 
the  reader  is  referred  to  page  202.  The  front  has 
never  been  finished  with  the  doric  portico,  according 
to  the  original  design,  and  that  deficiency  cannot  be 
supplied  until  the  requisite  addition  to  our  funds  can 
be  obtained. 

^griculiure.  In  the  general  view  the  land  in  this 
town  is  hilly,  barren,  and  sandy,  but  a  border  of  con- 
siderable extent  on  the  sea  board  having  been  well  cul- 
tivated, consists  of  a  rich  loamy  soil,  capable  of  yield- 
ing any  agricultural  production.  The  art  of  agricul- 
ture, however,  has  never  been  an  object  of  study  and 
consideration  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  town, — the  pur- 
suits of  commerce  and  navigation  being  more  congeni- 
al to  their  habits  and  taste  than  the  labors  of  husband- 
ry, especially  on  a  soil  not  sufficiently  fertile  to  en- 
courage their  efforts.  There  are,  nevertheless,  loca- 
tions near  the  shore,  where  we  have  seen  fields  of  In- 
dian corn,  potatoes,  rye,  wheat,  clover,  and  other  cul- 
tivated grass,  which  would  bear  a  comparison  with  the 
best  farms  in  any  part  of  the  Old  Colony.  Instances 
have  occurred  of  the  produce  of  four  tons  of  English 
hay  per  acre,  and  some  of  our  fields  have  yielded  sum- 
mer wheat  of  excellent  quality  at  the  rate  of  more  than 
thirty  bushels  per  acre;  and  the  present  season  (1831) 


APPENDIX.  337 

a  premium  has  been  awarded  to  one  of  our  industrious 
farmers  for  the  production  of  forty-three  bushels  of 
rye  on  one  acre  and  seven  rods.  But  these  instances 
are  stated  as  the  maximum  and  not  the  average.  Our 
meadows  generally  will  average  from  one  and  a  half  to 
two  tons,  and  our  corn  land  about  twenty  to  thirty- 
bushels  per  acre.  Orchards  have  not  generally  flour- 
ished to  much  advantage  in  this  town.  Although  the 
trees  are  remarkable  for  rapid  growth  and  healthy  as- 
pect, it  is  seldom  that  they  yield  a  correspondent  abun- 
dance of  fruit.  The  peach  tree  has  so  uniformly  dis- 
appointed our  expectations,  that  it  would  appear  that 
our  climate  is  uncongenial  to  its  nature.  Our  gardens 
in  ^general  are  sufficiently  productive  for  all  the  pur- 
poses of  culinary  and  domestic  consumption,  and  some 
there  are  which  exhibit  the  skill  of  the  botanist  and 
horticulturist.  The  vine  has  been  recently  introduced 
into  our  gardens,  and  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  but 
that  those  who  are  disposed  to  bestow  the  requisite 
care  and  attention  on  its  culture,  will  be  able  to  fur- 
nish their  tables  with  the  luxurious  fruit,  in  sufficient 
plenty,  though  it  is  not  to  be  expected  or  desired  that 
the  wine  press  will  ever  be  in  requisition  among  us. 

The  ancient  Warren  farm,  situated  at  Eel  river, 
three  miles  south  of  our  village,  has  been,  from  the 
first  settlement,  in  the  possession  of  the  Warren  family, 
having  descended  from  Richard  Warren  who  came 
over  in  the  Mayflower,  1620.  This  very  valuable  tract, 
consisting  of  about  four  hundred  acres,  has  for  a  long 
time  suffered  deterioration  from  mismanagement  and 
neglect.  It  is  now  in  the  possession  of  John  Thomas, 
Esq.,  who  has  commenced  its  renovation.  This  gen- 
tleman having  acquired  a  knowledge,  both  theoretical 
and  practical,  of  the  modern  mode  of  culture,  has,  with 
commendable  enterprize  and  industry,  applied  himself 
for  two  years  past  to  improvement,  in  conformity  with 
it.  He  has  procured  a  stock  of  short-horned  cattle, 
and  is  extending  their  breed.  The  sea  shore  fiarnish- 
29 


338  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH. 

es  rock  weed  and  kelp  in  abnndance  for  compost  ma- 
nure, and  be  has  greatly  enriched  the  meadow  land  and 
prepared  fifty  acres  for  mowing  the  next  season.  He 
has  growing  a  large  number  of  the  while  mulberry  trees, 
and  is  making  considerable  progress  in  the  culture  of 
silk. 

The  contiguity  of  this  farm  to  the  sea  shore  greatly 
enhances  its  value. 

There  is  another  valuable  farm,  near  the  northern 
limits  of  the  town,  which,  in  1665,  was  the  seat  of 
Governor  Prince.  This  farm  is  bounded  on  its  whole 
length  by  the  sea  bank,  and  consists  of  a  variety  of  soils. 
It  is  now  in  the  possession'of  Isaac  L.  Hedge,  Esq.,  who, 
duly  apprecia.ting  the  value  of  a  long  neglected  farm, 
is  now  engaged  in  meliorating  its  condition,  in  all  fe- 
spects  according  to  modern  improvements.  He  has, 
at  great  expense,  erected  a  large  and  convenient  farm 
bouse  and  out  building,  and  stocked  the  place  with 
English,  short-horn  cattle.  His  barn  and  yard  for 
swine  are  on  a  plan  admirably  adapted  for  the  making 
compost  manure,  and  the  adjacent  shore  furnishes 
abundant  materials  for  the  purpose.  There  is  in  the 
centre  of  the  farm  an  immense  mass  of  clay  for  the 
manufacture  of  brick,  which  is  conducted  on  a  large 
scale.  There  is  a  beautiful  brook  passing  through  the 
farm  and  emptying  into  the  sea.  A  considerable  num- 
ber of  acres  had  never  received  the  plough  till  the  last 
summer,  and  the  soil  is  excellent.  Mr.  Hedge  has  paid 
great  attention  to  fjuit  trees  and  gardening,  and  he, 
with  Mr.  Thomas  is  presenting  excellent  examples  for 
imitation. 

Below  Plymouth  town,  bordering  on  Sandwich  and 
Wareham,  is  a  district  of  country,  nearly  twenty  miles 
square,  that  is  chiefly  covered  with  wood,  for  the 
growth  of  which  it  is  more  valuable  than  for  any  other 
purpose.  This  place  has  always  been  well  slocked 
with  deer,  but  they  are  thinned  off  annually  by  the 
hunters.     In    January,    1831,  a   heavy    snow,   laying 


APPENDIX.  339 

about  three  feet  deep,  so  impeded  their  motions  as  to 
prove  fatal  to  a  large  proportion  of  the  stock.  A  num- 
ber of  people  provided  themselves  with  snow-shoes, 
and  pursued  these  beautiful  animals,  killing  and  cap- 
turing not  less  than  two  hundred.  About  forty  were 
taken  alive. 

The  pine  commons  of  Wareham,  Sandwich,  and 
Plymouth,  have  ever  been  the  favorite  haunt  of  the 
fallow  deer,  where  this  timid  animal  finds  some  seques- 
tered dells,  some  secret  recesses  ;  a  covert  from  his 
enemy  man,  where 

*  He  bursts  the  thicket,  glances  through  the  glade, 
And  plunges  deep  into  the  wildest  woods.' 

About  the  year  1730,  John  Rider,  of  Plymouth, 
killed  three  deer  at  a  shot,  while  feeding  in  his  rye-field. 
This  anecdote  was  related  in  England  by  General  John 
Winslow,  in  very  high  circles.  It  excited  the  smile  of 
incredulity,  yet  the  event  is  most  true. 

The  valuation  in  1831  gives  to  Plymouth  woodland 
11,662;  unimproved,  19,463;  unimprovable  734  acres. 

Commerce  and  JYavi^ation  of  Plymouth,  past  and 
present. 

In  1670  a  valuation  states  the  fish  boats  thus  : 
Four  at  £25         -         -         -         £100 
Two    at    18     -         -         -         -         36 
One    at     12     -     -         -         -  12 

£148 
Three  of  these  were  owned  by  Edward  Gray,  a  re- 
spectable merchant. 

From  this  period  to  1770,  the  fisheries  were  gradu- 
ally increasing,  and  in  1774,  seventy-five  fishing  vessels, 
of  about  45  to  50  tons,  navigated  by  seven  or  eight 
men  each,  were  employed  in  this  town.  Merchant 
vessels  from  1755,  to  1770,  or  1774,  say,  in  the  Liver- 
pool trade : 


340  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH. 

Brigs    1         -         -         -         Tons  130 

1 160 

1         -         -         -         -  180 


470 


One  schooner,  owned  by  Samuel  A.  Otis,  Esq.,  of 
Boston,  made  her  outfits  at  Plymouth,  for  her  voyages 
to  Liverpool.  Outward  cargoes,  liver  oil,  lumber,  pot- 
ash, then  made  at  Middleborough.  Return  cargoes 
salt,  crates,  freight  for  Boston.  There  may  have  been 
about  twenty  other  vessels  in  the  merchant  service, 
whose  outward  cargoes  were  fish  to  Jamaica,  some  to 
the  Mediterranean,  and  to  the  French  islands,  Martinico 
and  Gaudaloupe. 

During  the  Revolutionary  War  this  commerce,  and 
these  few  vessels  were  chiefly  annihilated,  and  at  the 
peace  of  1783,  a  few  schooners  only  remained,  but  fish- 
ing vessels  immediately  increased  in  size  and  aggregate 
tonnage. 

Previous  to  the  Revolution  there  was  a  considerable 
trade  to  Georgetown,  South  Carolina,  and  to  Charles- 
ton. In  the  winter  many  vessels  which  had  been  em- 
ployed in  fishing  during  the  summer,  took  cargoes  to 
North  Carolina  and  Virginia,  and  returned  in  March 
with  Indian  corn,  bacon,  and  live  hogs,  and  this  domes- 
tic trade  still  continued. 

'  Previous  to  the  last  war  with  England,  say  from 
about  1808  to  1811,  the  commerce  of  the  United 
States  liad  attained  to  a  state  of  great  prosperity,  and 
its  government  and  people  reposed  in  security  upon  the 
advantages  which  had  resulted  from  a  neutral  position.' 
Shipbuilding  was  constantly  increasing,  and  large  ships 
were  in  great  demand  for  voyages  of  neutral  freight. 
But  the  destructive  embargo  in  1808,  and  the  war  with 
Great  Britain  which  followed,  annihilated  commerce, 
and  blasted  the  fairest  prospects  and  calculations  of 
merchants.     Several  valuable  vessels  belonging  to  this 


APPENDIX.  341 

town  were  captured,  others  were  perishing  at  the 
wharves,  our  raechanics  and  seamen  reduced  to  a  morti- 
fying state  of  idleness.* 

The  commerce  of  Plymouth,  including  Diixburj^, 
and  Kingston,  may  be  estimated  from  the  following  ab- 
stract of  duties : 

Years,         Duties.         Years.         Duties. 

1801  $21,754    1806   $98,2-24 

1802  19,223  1807  62,592 

1803  30,305  1808  21,994 

1804  34,417  1809  32,575 

1805  63,411  1810  29,224 

Duties  paid  by  merchants  and  others  in  the  town  of 
Plymouth,  on  importation  at  the  port  of  Plymouth. 

Years.         Duties.  Years.  Duties. 

1813  $1,751    1822    $16,887 

1814  ,428   -1823     12,706 

1815  6,056    1824      5,053 

1816  16,076  1825  8,151 

1817  12,446  1826  4,842 

1818  13,224  1827  13,119 

1819  11,221  1828  25,732 

1820  15,284  1829  31,237 

1821  16,677  1830  8,383 


1831  7,500   esti- 

mated. 

Enrolled  Tonnage  belonging  to  the  town  of  Ply- 
mouth, employed  in  the  coasting  trade  and  fisheries, 
3,949  If  tons. 

Registered  Tonnage  belonging  to  the  town  of  Ply- 
mouth, 5,070f|  tons,  including  l,170ff  tons  occupied 
in  the  whale  fishery. 

*  It  has  been  stated  that  we  had  in  foreign  trade,  in  1811  and  1812, 
17  ships,  16  brigs,  40  schooners.  Of  these  were  taken  before  Sep- 
tember, 1812,  1  ship,  1  brig,  4  schooner*. 

29* 


342  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH. 

The  following  is  the  statement  of  the  Cod  and 
Mackerel  fishery  for  the  summer  of  1831. 

Schooners  in  the  Cod  fishery  32,  averaging  6lf^ 
tons,  employing  eight  men  each,  and  landing  19,165 
quintals  of  fish. 

The  number  of  barrels  of  Mackerel  inspected  this 
season  is  3183. 

To  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  the  Cod  fishery  is  an 
object  of  primary  importance.  To  some  it  has  been 
a  source  of  wealth,  and  to  multitudes  of  a  comfortable, 
cheerful  living. 

The  fishermen  in  general  are  respectable  for  good 
morals,  correct  habits,  and  civil  deportment.  The 
idea  prevails  with  some  of  them  that  fishing  employ- 
ment is  less  honorable  than  foreign  voyages,  but  let 
them  consider  that  all  honest  enterprize  and  industry 
is  honorable,  and  that  fishing  voyages  are  less  liable 
to  sickness  and  less  exposed  to  dangers  and  vicious  ex- 
ample— and,  moreover,  that  the  employment  prepares 
them  for  services  in  the  navy,  where  they  may  have  the 
honor  of  fighting  the  battles  of  their  country.  It  is 
much  to  the  credit  of  our  fishermen  that  when  on  the 
banks  they  carefully  abstain  from  fishing  on  Sundays. 

Those  vessels  that  are  employed  in  the  straits  of 
Belleisle  fishery,  carry  whale-boats,  in  which  the  fish 
are  taken  and  remain  there  through  the  summer. 

To  fit  a  vessel  of  seventy  tons,  carrying  eight  men, 
for  a  fishing  voyage  of  four  months,  it  requires  about 
one  hundred  hogsheads,  or  eight  hundred  bushels  of 
salt.  Isle  of  May  salt  is  preferred  ;  about  twenty  bar- 
rels of  clam  bait,  thirty-five  or  forty  barrels  of  water, 
twenty  pounds  of  candles,  two  gallons  of  sperm  oil ; 
these  articles  are  in  the  fishermen's  phrase  called  great 
generals,  and  are  paid  for  from  the  proceeds  before 
any  division  of  the  profits  is  made.  The  stone  bal- 
last, and  a  suit  of  clothes  for  the  men  who  salt  the  fish, 
are  also  included  in  the  great  general's  charges.  After 
these  articles  are  paid  for,  and  the  fish  sold,  the  profits  are 


APPENDIX.  343 

divided  in  the  proportion  of  three  eighths  to  the  owners, 
and  five  eighths  to  the  crew.  If  the  crew  furnish  their 
own  provisions,  each  man  carries  from  thirty  to  fifty 
pounds  of  pork,  one  hundred  pounds  of  ship  bread, 
from  three  to  six  gallons  of  molasses,  from  fourteen  to 
twenty-eight  pounds  of  flour,  some  J^utter,  lard,  and 
vinegar,  formerly  two  to  six  gallons  of  rum.  At  the 
present  time,  some  vessels  go  entirely  without  ardent 
spirits.  Each  man  carries  six  codlines,  thirty  fathoms 
long,  four  lead  weights  of  five  pounds  each,  two  dozen 
cod  hooks,  one  pair  of  large  boots  reaching  above 
the  knees,  and  a  piece  of  leather  or  oil-cloth  to  defend 
his  breast  from  the  wet.  A  few  other  articles,  called 
small  generals,  are  paid  for  equally  by  each  man,  as  two 
cord  of  wood,  a  barrel  of  beef,  one  bushel  of  beans, 
twenty  bushels  potatoes,  three  bushels  of  Indian  or  rye 
meal.  It  is  customary  for  the  owners  to  put  on  board 
two  or  more  spare  anchors  and  forty  fathoms  of  cable. 
The  fish  are  brought  home  in  the  sah,  and  after  being 
washed  are  spread  on  flakes  to  dry.  ' 

Dun-jish  are  of  a  superior  quality  for  the  table,  and 
are  cured  in  such  a  manner  as  to  give  them  a  dun  or 
brownish  color.  Fish  for  dunning  are  caught  early  in 
spring,  and  sometimes  in  February,  at  the  Isle  of 
Shoals.  They  are  taken  in  deep  water,  split  and 
slack  salted,  then  laid  in  a  pile  for  two  or  three  months 
in  a  dark  store,  covered  for  the  greatest  part  of  the 
time  with  salt-hay,  or  eel-grass,  and  pressed  with  some 
weight.  In  April,  or  May,  they  are  opened  and  piled 
again  as  close  as  possible  in  the  same  dark  store  till 
July  or  August,  when  they  are  fit  for  use. 

The  amount  of  fish  bounty  paid  to  this  town  by  the 
general  government  for  the  year  1831  is  $17,501  47. 
Whale  Fishery.  There  w^ere  a  number  of  schoo- 
ners and  sloops  employed  in  the  whale  fishery  in  this 
town  previous  to  and  immediately  succeeding  the  war 
of  the  1  evolution  ;  but  there  are  now  no  vessels  of  that 
class  so  employed.     In  the  year   1821,  a  number  of 


344  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH. 

citizens  associated  themselves  together,  and  built  a  ship 
of  three  hundred  and  fifty  tons  for  tlie   purpose  of  fit- 
ting her  for  the  Pacific  ocean   whaling,   which  they 
named    the    Mayflower,    in    honor   of  the   ship    that 
brought  our  forefathers  here  in- 1620.     The  ship  sail- 
ed in  Septembeii,  1821,   and  after  making  three  suc- 
cessful voyages,  and  landing  rising  six  thousand  bar- 
rels of  oil,  a  part  of  the  owners  sold  to  some  gentle- 
men of  New  Bedford,  where  she   was  transferred  in 
1831,  and  repaired,  and  sailed  from  that  place  in  April, 
1831;  apart  is  stiJl  owned   in   this  place.     In    J  821 
another  company  was  formed,  consisting  principally  of 
the  same  persons  that  built  the  Mayflower,   and   built 
another  ship  which  they  called  the  Fortune,  in  memo- 
ry of  the  second  ship  that  came  into  these   waters. 
This  ship  is  two  hundred   and  eighty  tons,  and  has 
made  two  voyages,  and  landed  about  thirty-seven  hun- 
dred barrels   of  oil,  and   is  now  on   her  third  voyage. 
In  1830,  the  ship  Arbella,  of  four  hundred   and  four 
tons,  and  navigated   by   thirty-five  men,   was  sent  out, 
and  1831  the  ship  Levant,  of  three  hundred  eighty- 
five  tons,  navigated   also  by  thirty-five  men,  sailed  for 
the  Pacific  Ocean  in  pursuit  of  sperm   whales.     The 
two  last  named  ships  are  of  the  largest  class,  and  fitted 
out  in  the  most  thorough  manner ;  and  it  is  hoped  ihey 
may  meet  with  sufficient  success  to   induce   others  of 
our  fellow-citizens  to  embark  in  this  enterprize,  which 
has  brought  wealth  and  prosperity  to  other  towns,  and 
is  believed  can  be  carried  on  here  to   as  good   advan- 
tage as  from  most  other  places.     The  three  ships  now 
employed  in  the  whale  fishery   amount  in   the   aggre- 
gate  to  1060   tons,  navigated   by  ninety-two  officers 
and  seamen  ;  the  produce  of  this  fishery  may  be   esti- 
mated at  about  two  thousand   barrels  of  sperm  oil  an- 
nually.    Connected  with   this   establishment   are    the 
manufacture  of  about  three   thousand  oil   casks,  and 
about  fifteen  hundred  boxes,  or  of  forty -five  hundred 
pounds  of  sperm  candles  annually. 


APPENDIX.  345 

There  are  six  sloops  of  about  sixty  tons  each  con- 
stantly employed  in  coasting  between  this  place  and 
Boston.  They  average  about  one  trip  a  week  in  the 
summer  season,  and  are  usually  from  eight  to  sixteen 
hours  in  performing  a  passage.  The  distance  being 
about  fifty-five  miles.  A  large  part  of  their  cargoes 
consist  of  the  raw  materials  for  the  cotton,  woollen, 
iron  and  cordage  manufactories,  as  well  as  all  kinds  of 
goods  and  groceries  for  our  stores  and  shops,  and  they 
carry  back  the  various  kinds  of  manufiictures  which 
are  produced  here.  There  are  also  two  schooners,  of 
about  ninety  tons  each,  employed  in  carrying  to  and 
from  Nantucket,  New  Bedford,  and  New  York,  arti- 
cles connected  with  our  manufacturing  establishments. 
There  are  also  three  vessels  employed  in  bringing 
lumber  from  the  state  of  Maine.  An  attempt  was 
made  in  the  years  1828  and  9,  to  run  a  steam-boat 
between  this  place  and  Boston,  but  it  proved  to  be  a 
losing  concern,  which  was  much  regretted,  as  it  was 
found  to  afford  a  mode  of  conveyance  of  great  conve- 
nience to  the  inhabitants. 

Wharves.  There  are  nine  wharves  near  the  centre 
of  the  town,  one  of  which  extends  nine  hundred  feet 
into  the  harbor,  and  is  called  Long  wharf.  This  was 
constructed  in  1829,  and  is  honorable  to  the  enterpriz- 
ing  proprietors.  Having  a  plank  flooring  it  affords  a 
beautiful  promenade,  which  is  much  frequented  in 
summer  by  social  parties  who  wish  to  enjoy  a  pleasant 
view  and  refreshing  sea  breeze.  Besides  these,  there 
are  three  wharves  on  the  south  side  of  the  harbor  and 
one  connected  with  the  Cordage  Factory  at  the  north 
part  of  the  town.  On  Water  street,  and  the  wharves 
which  run  from  it,  where  most  of  the  business  connect- 
ed with  navigation  is  transacted,  there  are  twenty-one 
stores,  sixteen  warehouses,  and  a  sufficient  number 
of  mechanics  and  artists  of  various  descriptions.  There 
is  an  aqueduct  in  the  town  which  supplies  the  most  of 
the  families  on  the  north  side  of  the  Town  brook,  at 


346  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH. 

the  rate  of  J5  annually  for  a  single  family,  or  $8  for 
two  families  in  one  house.  The  water  is  brought  in 
logs  from  Billlngton  Sea  at  the  distance  of  about  two 
miles.  We  have  belonging  to  the  town  four  fire-en- 
gines, well  provided  with  hose  and  hydraulic  pipes,  and 
all  the  requisite  appliances.  We  have  also  two  large 
reservoirs  connected  with  the  aqueduct,  affording  an 
ample  supply  of  water.  The  whole  apparatus,  with 
ladders  and  hooks  are  under  the  direction  of  men 
alert,  and  capable  of  the  most  efficient  operation  on 
any  emergency  which  may  occur.  Never  failing 
springs  of  the  purest  water  are  very  numerous  in 
town. 

Topography. 

Ponds,  Rivers,  and  Brooks.  The  number  of  ponds 
within  the  limits  of  this  town  is  supposed  to  be  more 
than  two  hundred. 

Billington  Sea.  This  was  formerly  called  Fresh 
Lake.  It  was  discovered  about  the  )st  of  January, 
1621,  by  Francis  Billington,  while  mounted  on  a  tree 
standing  on  a  hill.  It  was  in  the  midst  of  a  thick  for- 
est, and  when  seen  at  a  distance,  Billington  supposed 
it  to  be  another  sea.  On  the  8th  of  January,  he  went 
with  one  of  the  master's  mates,  to  view  the  place. 
They  found  two  lakes  contiguous,  separated  by  a  nar- 
row space  ;  the  largest  is  about  six  miles  in  circum- 
ference, and  is  the  far  famed  Billington  Sea.  It  is 
about  two  miles  south-west  from  town,  and  from  it  is- 
sues the  Town  brook.  In  this  pond  there  are  two  small 
islands.  The  largest,  containing  about  two  acres,  hav- 
ing been  planted  with  apple-trees,  produces  excellent 
fruit.  This  pond  is  well  stocked  with  pickerel  and 
perch.  The  majestic  eagle  is  frequently  seen  cower- 
ing over  this  pond,  and  has  for  ages  built  its  nest  in  the 
branches  of  the  trees,  visiting  the  flats  in  the  harbor  at 
low  tide  in  pursuit  of  fish  and  birds.  Loons,  and  the 
beautiful  wood-duck  produce  their  young  in  sequester- 
ed retreats  about  this  pond,  annually. 


APPENDIX.  347 

The  fallow  deer,  tenacious  of  its  ancient  place  of 
rendezvous,  continue  to  visit  this  pond  for  drink,  and 
to  browse  on  its  margin.  For  many  years  this  beauti- 
ful pond  was  a  favorite  resort  for  social  parties.  A 
house  was  erected  on  the  bank,  a  pleasure-boat  was 
in  the  pond,  and  tea-parties  and  fishing-parties  united 
in  the  happiest  enjoyments. 

South  Pond  is  situated  four  miles  from  town, — is  a 
beautiful  sheet  of  unruffled  water,  the  bottom  of  pure 
white  sand,  with  white  and  red  perch  playing  in  their 
native  element.  This  pond  has  now  become  a  place 
of  fashionable  resort  for  parties.  There  is  no  natural 
outlet;  but  about  the  year  1701,  a  water  course-was 
cut  from  it,  about  half  a  mile  in  length,  crossing  the 
road  and  uniting  with  the  head  waters  of  Eel  river. 
This  project  was  executed  under  the  direction  of  El- 
der Faunce,  with  the  view  of  attracting  alewives  into 
the  pond  ;   but  it  failed  of  success. 

Miirdock^s  Pond  lies  about  half  a  mile  from  our  vil- 
lage in  the  rear  of  the  burial  hill.  It  is  a  deep  round 
pond  of  about  two  acres,  where  ice  is  procured  for  ice 
houses  ;  and  a  small  brook  issuing  from  it  crosses  the 
west  road,  and  is  called  Little  brook,  or  Prison  brook, 
which  unites  with  the  Town  brook. 

Half-way  Pond.  This  is  ten  miles  southerly  from 
our  village.  There  is  an  island  in  this  pond  which 
formerly  furnished  a  large  supply  of  masts,  and  the 
road  to  it  is  still  called  the  mast  road. 

White  Island  Pond  lies  some  distance  north-wester- 
ly from  this ;  it  is  large,  covering  about  600,  acres  and 
is  on  the  line  which  divides  Plymouth  from  Wareham. 

Great  Herring  Pond,  is  about  15  miles  from  town, 
on  the  borders  of  Sandwich.  It  is  two  miles  in  length, 
and  has  an  Indian  population  in  its  vicinity.  Little 
Herring  Pond  is  connected  with  it  by  a  brook.  The 
Leech  gives  name  to  one  pond,  though  in  most  of  them 
leeches  are  taken  which,  answer  all  the  purposes  of  the 
true  medicinal  leech. 


348  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH. 

Long  Pond  is  two  miles  long,  situated  on  the  an- 
cient path  to  Sandwich  of  the  first  settlers,  which  is 
the  shortest  rout  by  two  miles.  It  is  six  miles  from 
town,  and  is  famous  for  large  pickerel  and  perch. 

Clam  Pudding  Pond  is  seven  miles  south,  on  the 
Sandwich  road.  It  was  formrely  the  resting  stage  for 
travellers  to  and  from  Cape  Cod,  and  the  settlers  were 
in  the  practice  of  holding  annual  festivals  on  Clam 
Pudding  at  this  pond. 

Crane  Brook  Ponds  are  the  source  of  a  brook  pass- 
ing into  Carver  south  westerly,  on  which  are  valuable 
furnaces  and  mills,  manufacturing  cast  iron. 

Scook,  is  the  Indian  name  for  a  small  pond  near 
Manomet  point,  where  are  numerous  rocks. 

Coatuit  is  the  Indian  name  for  Half-way  pond. 

Agawam  is  the  name  of  the  brook  flowing  from 
Coatuit,  and  passing  into  the  sea  at  Wareham.  It  is 
a  valuable  stream,  on  which  mills  and  forges  are  situat- 
ed and  alewives  abound  in  their  season. 

Town  Brook.  This  is  the  outlet  from  Billington 
Sea;  it  passes  through  town  and  empties  into  the  har- 
bor a  little  south  of  Forefatliers  Rock.  It  is  of  inesti- 
mable value  to  the  town,  being  the  seat  of  manufactures 
of  great  importance  which  will  be  described  under  the 
head  of  manufactures.  There  is  a  tannery  and  two 
grist-mills  on  this  stream.  Before  the  town  sold  their 
privilege  to  this  brook,  alewives  were  so  abundant  on 
their  way  to  the  Billington  Sea  that  more  than  800  bar- 
rels have  been  taken  in  one  season.  But  the  passing 
up  of  the  herrings  was  for  many  years  a  source  of 
much  trouble  and  perplexity  by  interrupting  the  opera- 
tions of  the  mills  and  manufactures,  occasioning  an  en- 
tire suspension  during  several  weeks  annually,  to  the 
great  damage  of  the  proprietors  and  the  town.  It  was 
from  these  considerations  that,  at  a  meeting  of  the  in- 
habitants of  the  town  in  1821,  it  was  voted  to  convey 
to  the  owners  of  the  mills  situated  on  the  town  brook, 
all  the  town's  right  to  the  use  of  the  water  and  the  bed 


APPENDIX.  349 

of  the  said  brook,  including  the  lower  grist-mill,  for  the 
term  of  50  years,  on  the  condition  that  the  said  owners 
of  mills  pay  to  the  town  $5000  in  ten  years  with  in- 
terest annually.  According  to  the  arrangement  adopted 
by  the  town,  the  interest  accruing  on  the  purchase 
money  is  to  be  distributed,  one  third,  or  flOO  annual- 
ly, among  such  widows  of  the  town  as  are  not  support- 
ed as  paupers,  and  the  remaining  part,  or  f  200,  to  be 
distributed  annually  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  town 
paying  a  poll  tax,  or  poll  taxes,  in  equal  proportions 
as  the  selectmen  of  the  town  for  the  time  being  may 
direct.  And  when  the  principal  sum  of  $5000  shall 
be  paid,  the  selectmen  shall  cause  the  same  to  be 
funded  in  such  stock  as  in  their  opinion  will  best  se- 
cure to  the  town  the  interest  thereof  for  said  purposes 
during  said  term  of  fifty  years. 

Eel  River.  This  originates  in  ponds  and  springs 
back  of  Eel  River  Village,  crosses  the  post  road  to 
Sandwich,  and  empties  into  the  sea  near  Warren's 
farm.  It  is  appropriately  called  Eel  river,  from  the 
abundance  of  eels  which  it  yields  to  the  support  of  the 
industrious  poor.  Perhaps  it  will  not  be  extravagant 
to  say  that  about  150  barrels  are  annually  taken  there. 
Wonkinqua  River  takes  its  rise  in  this  town,  forms 
the  boundary  between  it  and  Carver,  and  runs  about 
four  miles  to  Wareham  line,  below  which  there  are  on 
this  stream  some  of  the  largest  iron  works  in  the  county. 
Red  Brook  seeks  the  sea  at  Buttermilk  Bay,  over 
it  is  a  small  bridge  crossed  by  the  road  from  Sand- 
wich to  Wareham. 

Willingsly  Brook.  This  is  about  half  a  mile  from 
our  village,  crossing  the  public  road  to  Sandwich.  So 
early  as  1623,  this  place  was  recorded  by  the  name  of 
Hobbs's  Hole,  from  an  inlet  or  cove  under  a  cliff  where 
small  vessels  and  boats  were  sheltered  from  storms.  In 
1637,  we  find  the  name  of  Willingsly  on  record  for  the 
same  place.  It  is  now  a  location  for  a  cluster  of  about 
24  houses,  where  there  is  some  excellent  land,  and 
30 


350  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH. 

flakes  for  curing  fish.  Here  was  the  seat  of  Secretary 
Morton  ;  in  this  place  he  copied  the  church  records,  and 
wrote  the  Memorial,  and  volumes  of  other  records. 

Double  Brook,  or  Shingle  Brook  of  the  first  settler?, 
runs  northerly  by  the  post-road  to  Sandwich,  and  unites 
with  Eel  river.  A  forge  stands  on  it  near  the  junction. 
Beaver  Bam  Brook  is  in  the  village  of  Manomet 
Ponds,  and  affords  seats  for  several  mills.  Indian 
Brook  is  still  further  south  near  the  shore  ;  it  is  small, 
but  abounds  with  trout.  There  are  between  this  town 
and  the  bounds  of  Kingston  five  small  brooks  or  rivu- 
lets crossing  the  road ;  near  the  third,  reckoning  from 
town,  lived  Deacon  Hurst,  who  erected  the  first  tannery 
in  Plymouth,  about  1640.  Near  the  fourth  brook,  was 
the  seat  of  Governor  Prince,  being  a  farm  given  him 
by  the  General  Court  when  he  removed  from  East- 
ham  in  1665,  and  was  called  Plain  Dealing.  This 
has  since  been  known  by  the  name  of  Lothrop's  farm, 
now  Hedge's  farm.  On  this  brook  stands  a  grist-mill 
and  a  valuable  cordage  manufactory. 

There  are  in  the  town  about  12  bridges.  The  stone 
arch  bridge  was  erected  over  the  Town  brook  in  the 
year  1812,  at  Spring  hill,  precisely  at  the  spot  where 
the  colonists  had  their  first  interview  with  Massasoit  in 
1621.  The  hill  where  the  sachem  with  his  train  of  60 
men  first  appeared,  was  called  Strawberry  hill  by  the 
first  planters,  now  Watson's  hill.  There  is  another 
bridge  of  wood  over  the  Town  brook  at  the  wharf, 
which  for  many  years  was  the  principal  passage  way, 
and  was  called  the  lower  road.  This  bridge  is  now 
the  property  of  the  town,  but  is  kept  in  repair  by  indi- 
viduals, in  consideration  of  some  contiguous  land  grant- 
ed to  them  by  the  town.  Eel  river  bridge  is  well 
known  to  travellers,  though  the  public  road  to  Sand- 
wich is  now  more  westerly,  and  pass  the  Cotton 
factory. 

Hills. — Pinnacle  Hill  is  in  the  vicinity  of  South 
Ponds.  Sentry  Hill  and  Indian  Hill,  are  on  the  sea 
shore  of  Manomet.     Gallow  Hill  is  on  the  south  side 


APPENDIX.  351 

of  Wood's  lane,  and  is  the  property  of  the  heirs  of  Mr. 
Richard  Holmes.  Sparrow^s  Hill  is  two  miles  west- 
erly, crossing;  the  main  road  to  Carver.  Pavkopun- 
nakuk,  or  Break  Heart  Hill  of  the  early  settlers. 
This  is  that  remarkable  sand  hill  ten  miles  on  the  road 
to  Sandwich,  which  the  first  settlers  had  to  pass  on 
foot,  when  journeying  to  and  from  the  Cape  to  attend 
the  courts  at  Plymouth.  The  traveller  now  escapes 
that  wearisome  hill  by  taking  the  new  offset  road  to  the 
shore,  at  Mr.  Joseph  Harlow's  house. 

There  are  on  the  road  to  Sandwich,  in  the  woods, 
two  rocks  called  Sacrifice  rocks.  They  are  covered 
with  sticks  and  stones,  which  have  been  accumulating 
for  centuries.  It  was  the  constant  practice  among  the 
aboriginals,  to  throw  a  stone,  or  stick  on  the  rock  in 
passing.  The  late  Rev.  Mr.  Hawley,  who  spent  many 
years  among  the  natives  at  Mashpee,  endeavored  to 
learn  from  them  the  design  of  this  singular  rite,  but 
cuuld  only  conjecture  that  it  was  an  acknowledgment 
of  an  invisible  Being,  the  unknown  God  whom  this 
people  worshipped.     This  pile  was  their  altar. 

Burying  Hill,  formerly  Fort  Hill.  Immediately  in 
ibe  rear  of  the  town  is  a  hill,  rising  one  hundred 
and  sixty-fi.v.e  feet  above  the  sea  level,  embracing  about 
eight  acres.  On  the  summit  of  the  south-west  side, 
the  pilgrims  erected  first  some  temporary  defence,  but, 
in  1675,  on  the  approach  of  Philip's  war  they  erected 
a  strong  fort,  one  hundred  feet  square,  strongly  palisa- 
doed,  ten  and  a  half  feet  high.  No  other  place 
could  have  been  so  well  chosen,  either  for  discover- 
ing the  approach  of  savages,  or  for  defending  the  town 
against  their  attacks.  The  settlement  was  rendered 
perfectly  secure,  and  springs  of  water  were  at  their  com- 
mand. The  whole  circuit  of  the  fort  is  still  distinctly 
visible,*  a  watch-house  of  brick  was  also  built  near 
the  fort. 

*  On  the  10th  day  of  May,  1832,  the  present  author  planted  ao 
elm  tree  near  the  centre  of  the  old  fort,  which  may  serve  to  desig- 
nate its  site  to  posterity. 


352  HISTORY  or  Plymouth. 

The  view  presented  from  this  emiDence.  embracinj 
our  barLor  and  the  shores  of  the  bay  for  miles  around, 
is  Dot,  perhaps,  inferior  lo  any  in  our  couDin".  Let  the 
antiquarian  come  at  full  tide  and  when  the  billows  are 
calmed;  and  seat  himself  on  this  mount,  that  he  may 
survey  ibe  incomparable  landscape,  and  enjoy  the  in- 
teresting associations  with  which  he  will  be  inspired. 
Immediately  beneath  the  hill  lies  the  town  in  full  view, 
and  beyond  this  the  harbor  and  shippiniT.  The  harbor 
is  a  beautiful  expanse  of  water,  bounded  on  the  south 
by  Manomet  point,  and  near  which  commences  a  beach 
three  miles  in  length,  breasting  the  rolling  billows  of 
the  bay,  and  serving  as  a  barrier  to  the  wharves  ;  and 
on  the  northeast  by  a  promontory  extending  from 
Marshfield,  called  the  Gurnet,  on  the  point  of  which 
stands  the  ligljt-house. 

These  several  points,  together  with  the  opposite 
shores,  completely  enclose  the  harbor,  having  Clark's 
Island  and  Saquish  in  its  bosom.  Beyond  these  points 
opens  the  great  bay  of  Massachusetts,  bounded  at  the 
souiheru  extremity  by  the  peninsula  of  Cape  Cod, 
which  is  distinctly  visible,  and  spreading  boundless  to 
the  north-east.  On  the  north  appears  the  flourishing 
village  of  Duxburv',  shooting  into  the  bay.  and  exhibit- 
ing a  handsome  conical  hill,  ever  to  be  remembered  as 
once  the  property  and  residence  of  the  gallant  Standish. 
Between  Duxbury  and  Plymouth,  is  the  harbor  and 
pleasant  village  of  Kingston.  Having  taken  a  survey 
of  this  magnificent  group,  so  exceedingly  endeared  to 
the  New  Encjland  antiquarian,  and  enjoyed  a  spiritual 
vision  of  the  Mayflower,  laden  with  men,  women  and 
children,  come  as  founders  of  a  mighty  empire,  we 
are  next  led  to  view  a  scene  of  more  solemn  contem- 
plation. The  whole  extent  of  the  hill  is  covered  with 
the  symbols  of  mortality,  the  sepulchres  of  our  venera- 
ted fathers.  ^Ve  tread  on  the  ashes  of  some  of  those 
to  whom  we  are  indebted,  under  Providence,  for  our 
most  precious  earthly  enjoyments,  all  that  is  valuable  in 


APPENDIX.  353 

Irfe,  much  of  principle  and  example  which  are  consol- 
ing in   death.     With  what  solicitude  do  we  search  for 
a  sepulchral  stone  bearing  the  names  of  Carver,  Brad- 
ford, and  their    glorious  associates.     It  excites   some 
surprise  that  sixty  years  should  have  elapsed  before  a 
grave-stone  w^as   erected   to  the  memory   of  the   de- 
ceased pilgrims ;  but  it  is  probably  to  be   asscribed  to 
their    poverty    and    want  of  artists.     A  considerable 
number  of  the  oldest  are  English   slate  stone.     No 
stone  of  an  earlier  date  than  16S1  is  to  be  found  in  this 
enclosure,  though  it  is  by  no  means  probable  that  this 
was  the  first  interment  here.     It  is  to  the  memory  of 
Edward  Gray,  a  respectable  merchant,  whose  name 
frequently  occurs  in   the  old   records.     Here   lies  the 
body  of  Edward    Gray,  Gent.,    aged  about  fifty-two 
years,  and  departed  this  life  the  last  of  June,  1681. 
Edward  and  Thomas  Gray,  brothers,  came  to  Ply- 
mouth about  the  year  1643.     Thomas,  it  is  said  after- 
wards settled   in  Tiverton,  or   some  say  Connecticut. 
Edward  married  Sarah  Winslow,  daughter  of  John  Wins- 
low  ;  their  children  were  Desire,  Elizabeth,  Sarah,  and 
John.    In  December,  1665,  he  married  for  his  second 
wife,  Dorothy  Lettice,  by  whom  were  born  Edward,  and 
five  other  children.    The  first  Edward  Gray  is  frequent- 
ly mentioned  in  the  old  records.     He  made  his  mark  for 
bis  name,  as  was  not  uncommon  in  those  days  :  by  habits 
of  industry  and  good  management,  liowever,  he  gained 
a  character  of  respectable  merchant,  and  acquired  an 
estate  worth  £  1-250   sterling,  the  largest  estate  at  that 
time  in  the  colony.     The   second  Edward,  according 
to  accounts  received  from  Lewis  Bradtbrd,  Esq..  lived 
at  Tiverton,    Rhode    Island.     Thomas    and    Samuel 
lived  at  Little  Compton,  and  also  three  daughters,  two 
of  whom  married  -Coles,  and  tlie  youngest  married  Ca- 
leb Loring,  of  Plympton,  who  is  the  ancestor  of  the 
Lorings  in  the  north  part  of  Plynipton.     Dorothy,  the 
second  wife  of  Edward  Gray,  married,  when  a  widow, 
Nathaniel  CJaik,  of  Plvmouib,  for  her  second  husband, 
30* 


354  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH. 

but  finally  separated  from  him,  and  died  in  the  family  of 
her  son-m-law  Caleb  Loring,  in  May,  1728,  aged  more 
than  eighty  years.  John  Gray  married  Joanna  Morton. 
Their  children  were  Ann,  who  married  Tinkham  ;  Jo- 
anna married  •  Ebenezer  Fuller.  Samuel  married  Pa- 
tience Wadsworth.  Mercy  married  Jabez  Fuller. 
Samuel  Gray  by  Patience  Wadsworth  had  several  chil- 
dren ;  those  who  survived  infancy  are  Mary,  Samuel, 
and  Wait.  John  Gray  married  Desire  Cushman,  Janua- 
ry 26th,  1775.  Their  surviving  children  are  John,  born 
May  5th,  1777  ;  Lewis,  born  May  3d,  1790.  They 
lived  in  the  old  mansion  house  in  Kingston. 

The  following  is  the  language  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Dwight,  after  visiting  our  burying  hill  in  October,  1800. 
'  Governor  Carver  was  buried  in  the  first  burying 
ground,  and  is  without  a  monument.  This  is  dishon- 
orable to  the  citizens  of  Plymouth,  but  will,  I  hope, 
not  long  remain  so.  The  true  character  of  the  ances- 
tors is  becoming  better  and  better  understood  by  the 
people  of  New  England,  and  their  attention  to  the 
persons  and  facts  mentioned  in  the  early  history  of 
their  country  is  continually  increasing.  The  inhabit- 
ants of  Plymouth,  who,  in  this  respect,  hold  the  first 
station  among  their  countrymen,  will,  I  trust,  feel  the 
propriety  of  honoring  with  so  becoming  a  tribute,  the 
memory  of  a  man  to  whom  they  are  so  greatly  indebt- 
ed. The  remains  of  Governor  Bradford  were  inter- 
red without  a  doubt  in  the  old  burying  ground,  near 
those  of  his  son.*     But 

"  Not  a  stone 
Tells  where  he  lies." 

The  pow^der  house  on  the  north  part  of  the  hill  was 

*  The  following  are  copied  from  some  of  the  stones  on  our  bury- 
ing-hill : 

Here  lyes  ye  body  of  ye  Honorable  Major  William  Bradford,  who 
expired  February  ye  20,  1703-4,  aged  79  years. 

He  lived  long,  but  still  was  doing  good, 
And  in  his  country's  service  lost  much  blood. 


APPENDIX.  355 

built  of  brick  in  the  year  1770,  and  the  small  mound 
in  the  form  of  a  fort  in  the  valley  a  little  south-east  of 
it  is  said  was  built  by  Mr.  Cotton's  scholars  in  the 
time  of  Queen  Ann's  war. 

Cole's  Hill.  This  is  a  small  square,  on  the  sea  bank, 
at  the  foot  of  Middle  street.  It  is  n  pleasant  spot,  af- 
fording a  fine  ocean  scenery.  Here  too  we  feel  an 
impulse  from  ancestral  recollections.  On  this  hill, 
according  to  common  tradition,  were  deposited  the  re- 
mains of  those  renowned  pilgrims  who  fell  a  sacrifice 
during  the  perilous  winter  of  1620 — 1.  About  the 
year  1735,  an  enormous  freshet  rushed  down  Middle 
street,  by  which  many  of  the  graves  of  the  fathers 
were  laid  bare,  and  their  bones  washed  into  the  sea. 

A  breast-work  and  platform  were  erected  on  this 
bank  in  1742.  John  Winslow,  who  at  that  time  lived 
in  town,  had  the  direction  of  the  work,  and  the  selec- 

After  a  life  well  spent  he  's  now  at  rest — 
His  very  name  and  memory  is  blest. 

Here  lyes  ye  body  of  Mr.  Joseph  Bradford,  son  to  the  late  Hon- 
orable William  Bradford,  Esq.,  governor  of  Plymouth  Colony,  who 
departed  this  life  July  ye  20th,  1715,  in  the  85th  year  of  his  age. 

Here  lyeth  buried  ye  body  of  that  precious  servant  of  God,  Mr, 
Thomas  Cushman,  who,  alter  he  had  served  his  generation  accord- 
ing to  the  will  of  God,  and  particularly  the  church  of  Plymouth, 
for  many  years  in  the  office  of  ruling  elder,  fell  asleep  in  Jesus, 
December  ye  10th,  1691,  and  in  the  84th  year  of  his  age. 

Here  lyes  buried  the  body  of  Mr.  Thomas  Faunce,  ruling  elder 
of  the  First  Church  of  Christ,  in  Plymouth.     Deceased  February 
27,  An.  Dom.  1745,  in  the  99th  year  of  his  age. 
The  fathers  where  are  they  ? 
Blessed  are  the  dead  who  die  in  the  Lord. 

Here  lyes  ye  body  of  Mr.  Thomas  Clark,  aged  98  years.  De- 
parted this  life  March  24th,  1697. 

If  this  is  the  same  Clark  that  was  the  mate  of  the  Mayflower, 
and  the  first  who  landed  on  the  island  that  bears  his  name,  as  is 
generally  supposed,  then. he  was  21  years  of  age  when  he  arrived 
here.  Little  is  known  of  his  immediate  posterity,  if  any  sui-vived 
him. 

It  is  a  remarkable  circumstance,  that  from  the  first  settlement  ol 
this  town,  two  ministeis  only,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Little,  and  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Robbins,  have  been  buried  in  this  enclosure. 


356  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH. 

tion  of  the  spot.  During  the  revolutionary  war  a  bat- 
tery was  erected  at  the  same  place,  while  intrench- 
ments  were  thrown  up  at  a  well  selected  spot,  for  de- 
fence of  the  town  ;  and  a  fort  and  garrison  were  estab- 
lished at  the  Gurnet,  at  the  entrance  of  the  jiarbor,  by 
the  United  States.  In  the  war  with  Great  Britain  in 
the  year  1814,  an  intrenchment  was  again  thrown  up 
on  Cole's  hill  for  the  defence  of  the  town. 

Plymouth  Beach.  This  commences  at  Eel  river, 
and  extending  three  miles  northerly,  is  a  natural  bar- 
rier to  the  wharves  against  the  sweeping  surges  of  the 
ocean. 

Originally,  the  beach  consisted  of  sand  hills  and  hol- 
lows, covered  with  beach  grass,  excepting  about  80  rods 
in  length,  and  thirty  rods  in  breadth,  which  was  a  thick 
forest.  The  inner  side  of  the  beach  was  covered  with 
plum  and  wild  cherry  trees,  and  the  swamp  with  large 
pitch  pine  and  beech  wood,  with  a  large  quantity  of 
white  grape-vines  attached  to  the  trees.  In  the  cen- 
tre of  the  hollow,  was  a  spot  about  fifty  feet  square, 
that  was  a  firm  green  sward,  and  shaded  by  four  beech 
trees,  from  which  were  suspended  numerous  vines 
with  clusters  of  grapes,  in  their  proper  season.  This 
was  a  pleasant  resort  for  gentlemen  and  ladies,  and 
was  much  frequented  in  the  summer  season,  as  is  well 
remembered  by  persons  now  living.  The  point  of  the 
beach  extended  to  the  spot  where  the  stone  pier  now 
stands,  and  not  far  from  the  point  was  a  house  of  en- 
tertainment for  mariners,  as  the  harbor  was  a  famous 
anchorage,  and  sometimes  near  one  hundred  vessels 
were  seen  riding  in  the  Cow  Yard.  This  was  the  nat- 
ural state  of  the  beach  till  about  1770.  Our  ances- 
tors were  well  avv^are  of  the  importance  of  the  beach 
as  security  to  the  harbor,  and  we  find  in  1702  a  penal- 
ty of  five  shillings  imposed  on  any  one  who  shall  fell 
trees  or  set  fires  on  the  beach.  We  find  again,  J  723, 
1726,  committees  were  chosen  by  the  town  to  secure 
the  beach  from  injury  by  cattle  going  at  large,  and  they 


APPENDIX.  '    357' 

were  enjoined  as  far  as  possible  to  prevent  encroach- 
ments on  said  beach.  In  1764,  a  viewing  committee 
of  the  town  reported  £20  sufficient  for  the  repairs  of 
two  small  breaches  near  the  woods.  In  December, 
1778,  a  great  storm  increased  these  two  breaches,  af- 
ter which  a  hedge  fence  was  erected  to  accumulate 
the  sand.  In  November,  1784,  a  tremendous  gale, 
from  the  east,  accompanied  by  the  highest  tide  ever 
known,  carried  away  a  part  of  the  woods  on  the  east 
side,  and  overflowed  the  valley  and  swamp,  by  which 
all  the  trees  were  killed  in  about  three  years,  except 
those  on  the  high  ground.  The  same  year  a  commit- 
tee from  the  town  viewed  the  breaches,  and  reported- 
that  a  wall  of  eighty  feet  in  length  and  four  feet  high, 
would  be  competent  to  the  repairs,  with  a  hedge  fence 
in  low  places  ;  and  that  it  would  require  about  1000 
tons  of  stone,  and  at  the  cost  of  £414.  The  commit- 
the  also  recommended  the  digging  a  canal  to  turn  the 
course  of  Eel  river,  that  it  may  empty  into  the  chan- 
nel within  side  of  the  beach  as  formerly  ;  the  river 
having  been  diverted  from  its  natural  course  by  some 
proprietors  of  meadows  for  their  benefit,  about  1750. 
It  was  the  decided  opinion  of  Mr.  John  Peck,  a  skilful 
marine  architect,  about  the  year  1779,  that  for  the  safe- 
ty of  the  harbor  a  canal  to  turn  the  river  back  to  its 
natural  channel  was  indispensably  necessary.  The 
judgment  of  such  a  man  ought  to  have  received  imme- 
diate attention.  But  in  the  year  1803  a  committee 
of  the  town  examined  the  ground  and  estimated  the 
expense  of  a  canal  at  a  sum  from  $600  to  $800. 
The  town  did  not  adopt  this  measure,  and  such  were 
the  extraordinary  inroads  of  the  soa,  that  in  1805  and 
1806,  the  beach  was  in  such  ruinous  condition  that 
the  tide  swept  over  it  and  boats  actually  crossed  at  the 
breaches  ;  nor  was  it  long  before  a  channel  was  worn 
in  one  of  the  breaches  nme  feet  deep,  and  vessels  load- 
ed with  stone  passed  through.     A  promiscuous  wall  of 


358  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH. 

Stone  was  now  erected,  but  was  soon  entirely  demol- 
ished by  the  surges  of  the  sea,  as  if  composed  of  pump- 
kin shells. 

A  reviewing  committee  now  reported  that  a  sea  wall 
of  two  thousand  feet,  requiring  thirty  thousand  tons  of 
stone,  costing  $45,000  was  found  necessary.  The 
town  petitioned  our  legislature  from  time  to  time  for 
assistance  in  repairing  the  beach.  In  1785,  a  grant 
was  obtained  of  £500,  conditional,  that  the  town 
would  raise  and  apply  the  like  sum  ;  but,  from  inability, 
this  was  not  complied  with.  In  1806,  a  township  of 
land  in  the  state  of  Maine  was  granted,  on  condition 
that  the  town  raised  and  applied  $'5000  in  two  years, 
which  was  accepted,  and  the  township  of  land  was  sold 
for  $9,500.  In  1812,  a  lottery  to  raise  $16,000  was 
granted  by  the  general  court,  which  sum  was  eventual- 
ly realized  and  applied  as  designed.  Since  that  time 
another  township  of  land  has  been  granted  for  the 
same  purpose.  A  sum  amounting  to  more  than 
$40,000  has  been  expended  for  repairs  since  the  year 
1806,  without  any  assistance  from  the  general  govern- 
nient.  But  in  the  year  1824,  the  town  preferred  a 
petition  to  congress  for  assistance,  and  the  general 
government  assumed  to  itself  the  future  repairs, 
and  in  1824,  and  1825  made  a  grant  of  §43,566. 
In  1824  the  repairs  were  conducted  by  Lieutenant 
Chase,  of  the  Engineer  department,  who  received 
the  thanks  of  the  town  for  his  faithful  and  judicious 
performances.  The  next  year  the  repairs  were  pros- 
ecuted under  the  supervision  of  Colonel  Totten,  of  the 
corps  of  engineers,  assisted  by  the  collector  of  the 
port. 

The  method  adopted  for  the  repairs,  is,  by  triangu- 
lar frames  of  timber  filled  in  with  stones,  around  and 
over  which  the  sand  gathers  and  forms  a  new  breast. 
In  other  places  large  bodies  of  brush  are  laid,  which 
have  produced  the  desired  effect,   accumulating  sand 


APPENDIX.  359 

into  cliffs  and  help  the  growth  of  beach  grass.  The 
frames  employed  are  of  three  sizes,  a  part  fourteen 
feet  base,  twelve  feet  rafters  ;  twelve  feet  base,  tea 
feet  rafters  ;  ten  feet  base,  seven  feet  rafters.  These 
frames  are  morticed  and  tenoned  together,  and 
placed  in  a  line  vertically  on  the  surface  of  the  beach, 
and  filled  with  stones.  The  largest  size  contains  five 
tons,  and  the  smallest  three  tons.  The  whole  quanti- 
ty of  stones  used  from  1824  to  1831  is  14,997  tons. 
As  an  indirect  aid  to  the  security  of  the  beach,  a  canal 
half  a  mile  in  length  and  fifteen  feet  wide  was  cut  by 
the  town  in  the  year  1814,  for  the  purpose  of  conduct- 
ing Eel  river  to  its  native  outlet  within  side  of  the 
beach,  which  has  been  found  to  be  of  very  essential 
advantage.  This  outlet  will  require  annual  vigilance, 
and  it  is  confided  to  posterity  as  a  work  of  great  im- 
portance to  the  preservation  of  the  harbor.  The  re- 
pairs of  this  beach  which  has  so  long  engaged  atten- 
tion are  now  considered  as  complete,  and  with  care 
and  a  little  annual  expense,  will  probably  continue  as 
a  mound  oj  defence  for  ages. 

The  Gurnet  is  a  peninsula,  or  point  of  high  land 
originating  from  IMarshfield,  and  extending  about  7 
miles  into  the  bay.  On  its  southern  extremity  is  sit- 
uated the  light-house.  It  was  first  erected  in  1768, 
by  the  then  province,  at  the  expense  of  £660  175. 
and  in  1801,  it  w^as  consumed  by  fire.  The  light- 
house now  standing  was  erected  by  the  United  States, 
in  1803.  It  exhibits  two  lights,  which  are  about  70 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  There  is  near  the 
point  a  farm  of  rich  soil  which  supports  one  family. 

Saquish  is  a  head  land  joined  to  the  Gurnet  by  a 
narrow  neck,  lies  contiguous  to  Clark's  Island,  and 
contains  12  or  14  acres. 

Clark's  Island  is  the  first  land  that  received  the 
footsteps  of  our  fathers  who  formed  the  exploring  par- 
ty from  Cape  Cod.  It  received  its  name  from  Clark, 
the   master's  mate  of  the   Mayflower,  who  first  took 


^60  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH. 

possession  of  it  with  the  shallop,  December  8th,  1620, 
There  is  a  tradition  that  Edward  Dotey,  a  young  man, 
attempted  to  be  first  to  leap  on  the  island,  but  was  se- 
verely checked  for  his  forwardness,  that  Clark  might 
first  land  and  have  the  honor  of  giving  name  to  the  island, 
which  it  still  retains.  My  authority  for  this  tradition 
is  Mr.  Joseph  Lucas,  whose  father  was  the  great 
grandson  of  Edward  Dotey.  The  anecdote  has  been 
transmitted  from  father  to  son,  so  tenaciously  that  it 
need  not  be  disputed.  He  also  states,  that  Edward 
Dotey  was  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  in  that  part  of 
Plymouth  which  is  now  Carver,  where  he  died  at  an 
advanced  age,  and  his  estate  there  was  inherited  by  his 
descendants  of  the  same  name  till  within  a  few  years. 
This  island  contains  86  J  acres,  as  appears  by  the  follow- 
ing survey.  '  By  virtue  of  a  warrant  from  his  excellency 
Sir  Edward  Andros,  knight,  captain  general  and  gover- 
nor in  chief  of  his  majesty's  territory  and  dominion  of 
New  England,  bearing  date,  Boston,  the  23d  of  Februa- 
ry 1687, — I  have  surveyed  and  laid  out  for  Mr.  Nathan- 
iel Clark,  a  certain  small  island,  being  known  by  the 
name  of  Clark's  Island,  and  is  situated  and  lying  in 
New  Plymouth  Bay,  bearing  from  the  meeting  house 
in  Plymouth  north  by  north-east,  about  three  miles, 
and  is  bounded  round  with  water  and  flats,  and  con- 
tains eighty-six  acres  and  a  quarter  and  three  rods. 
Performed  this  3d  day  of  March  1687. 

'  Phillip  Wells,  Surveyor,'' 

In  Governor  Hutchinson's  history  of  Massachusetts, 
this  is  called  one  of  the  best  islands  in  Massachusetts 
Bay.  The  growth  of  wood  originally  was  chiefly  red 
cedar,  and  was  formerly  an  article  of  sale  at  Boston,  for 
gate  posts.  In  1690,  Clark's  Island  was  sold  to  Samuel 
Lucas,  Elkanah  Watson,  and  George  Morton.  The 
family  of  the  late  John  Watson,  Esq.  have  been  the 
proprietors  of  this  island  for  half  a  century,  and  still 


APPENDIX.  361 

reside  on  it.  There  is  at  present  but  one  island  in  the 
harbor  of  Plymouth  ;  tiiat  which  was  formerly  called 
Brown's  Island  is  only  a  shoal  lying  about  half  a  mile 
east  by  north  from  Beach  point.  '  This  it  is  suppos- 
ed was  once  upland,  and  there  is  a  tradition,  that 
stumps  of  trees  have  been  seen  here.'  In  Winthrop's 
Journal,  p.  87,  it  is  said  that  in  1635,  September  6ih, 
*  Two  shallops,  going  laden  with  goods  to  Connecticut, 
were  overtaken  in  the  night  with  an  easterly  storm,  and 
cast  away  upon  Brown's  Island,  near  the  Gurnet's  Nose, 
and  the  men  all  drowned.' 

Cow  Yard.  An  anchorage  in  Plymouth  harbor  near 
Clark's  Island.  It  takes  its  name  from  a  cow  whale, 
which  once  came  into  it  and  was  caught,  with  her  calf. 
This  was  formerly  a  famous  anchorage  for  fishermen- 

tSatter^s  Beach  is  contiguous  to  Marshfield  Beach, 
near  Clark's  Island. 

High  Pines  is  a  piece  of  salt  meadow  which  lies 
back  of  Clark's  Island.  *  William  ShurtlefF  exchanges 
with  the  precinct,  the  precinct  give  him  ten  acres  of 
upland  and  meadow,  and  he  conveys  to  them  a  piece 
of  salt  meadow,  six  acres  more  or  less,  at  High  Pines/ 
—  County  Records,  h.  v.fol.  113,  114. 

Sheep  Pasture.  At  the  commencement  of  the  last 
century,  the  inhabitants  considered  it  an  object  worthy 
of  attention  to  encourage  the  rearing  of  sheep  on  the 
towm's  land.  Accordingly  in  May,  1703,  a  tract  of 
three  miles  square  was  granted  to  a  number  of  individ- 
uals, for  their  improvement  as  a  sheep  pasture.  This 
tract  was  within  the  bounds  of  Plymouth,  Rochester, 
Plympton,  Carver,  and  extending  to  Smelt  pond  in 
Kingston. 

The  plan  which  they  adopted  was  to  divide  the  pro- 
perty into  322  shares,  which  were  taken  up  by  16  per- 
sons. A  house  and  folds  were  erected,  and  a  shep- 
herd was  employed  who  resided  on  the  spot.  Twen- 
ty acres  were  allowed  for  cultivation,  and  the  sheep 
were  to  be  folded  on  the  land  the  three  first  summers, 
31 


362  HISTORY   OF    PLYMOUTH. 

with  the  view  of  bringing  it  into  grass.  In  the  year 
1704,  the  town  passed  a  vote  that  the  said  land  shall 
be,  and  rem'\in  to  the  persons  therein  named,  accord- 
ing to  the  number  of  shares  they  have  signed  for,  and 
to  such  others  as  shall  join  them,  and  to  their  heirs  for- 
ever. The  endeavors  of  the  proprietors  were  attended 
with  little  success,  and  in  the  year  1712,  they  began 
to  think  of  resigning  the  land  back  to  the  town,  and 
in  1712,  this  was  done,  and  the  project  altogether 
abandoned  as  impracticable.  Their  number  of  sheep 
was  about  360.  In  1768  a  proposition  was  made  to 
revive  this  project  as  a  town  concern,  but  it  was  wise- 
ly rejected.  Subsequently  to  1784,  this  tract  was  sold 
at  different  times  ;  the  last  800  acres  were  disposed  of 
in  1798. 

The  Militia  of  the  town.  One  company  of  Artillery, 
commanded  by  Eleazer  S.  Bartlett.  One  do.  Light 
Infantry,  called  the  Standish  Guards,  commanded  by 
John  Bartlett,  3d.  Two  companies  Infantry,  called 
South  and  North.  South  company,  commanded  by 
George  W.  Bartlett.  North  company,  by  Asa  Bar- 
row, Jr. 

The  above  are  attached  to  the  1st  Regiment,  com- 
manded by  Col.  Leander  Lovell,  and  belong  to  the 
1st  Brigade  5th  Division. 

Manufactures.  Tlie  Manufactures  of  Iron  are  vari- 
ous, and  some  of  them  extensive.  On  the  stream 
called  the  Town  brook  are  two  forges^  in  which  are 
made  anchors,  mill-cranks,  plough-shares,  sleigh-shoes, 
&,c.  Formerly  shovels  were  made  at  these  works,  un- 
der the  superintendence  of  Mr.  Ames,  whose  manufac- 
ture of  the  same  article  in  Easton  has  since  become  so 
celebrated. 

The  rolling-mill  and  nail  factory  on  the  same  stream 
have  been  in  operation  many  years  ;  the  former  was  re- 
built in  the  year  1807,  on  the  site  of  a  slitting-mill  for 
the  manufacture  of  nail-rods,  formerly  the  property  of 
Martin  Brimmer,  Esq.,  of  Boston.     At  this  establish- 


APPENDIX.  363 

ment  are  made  about  three  tons  of  nails  per  day. 
Nearly  all  the  nail  machinery  in  this  factory  is  the  in- 
vention of  Mr.  Samuel  Rogers,  of  East  Bridgewater, 
who  received  large  sums  from  the  proprietors  for  his 
patents.  There  is  one  machine,  lately  invented  and 
constructed  by  Mr.  Joseph  Lucas,  of  this  town,  on  a 
new  principle,  by  which,  while  much  of  the  manual  la- 
bor is  saved,  a  larger  quantity  of  nails  can  be  made  in 
a  given  time  than  by  any  other  machine.  As  a  speci- 
men of  its  performance,  it  may  be  mentioned,  that  the 
produce  of  something  less  than  five  hours'  work  was 
Oiic  thousand  and  twenty-five  pounds  of  lOd.  or  board 
nails,  of  the  very  best  quality.  Mr.  David  Bradford, 
of  this  town,  is  the  inventor  of  another  nail  machine, 
considered  equal  if  not  superior  t-o  the  best  of  the  old 
construction. 

Near  the  rolling-mill,  is  an  air  furnace,  occasionally 
used  in  casting  machinery  for  the  iron  works.  Here 
is  also  a  furnace  belonging  to  the  same  establishment, 
for  converting  bar  iron  into  blistered  steel.  Thirty 
cords  of  wood  are  consumed  in  the  process  of  baking, 
which  requires  from  six  to  ten  days.  About  eighteen 
tons  are  made  in  a  batch. 

At  Eel  River  is  another  rolling-mill  of  more  mo- 
dern construction.  It  commenced  operation  in 
June,  1827.  The  head  and  fall  of  water  in  this  privi- 
lege are  about  thirty  feet,  with  an  unfailing  stream. 
The  rolling-mill  and  nail  factory  connected  with  it  are 
built  of  granite,  in  a  very  strong  and  durable  manner  ; 
the  former  is  eighty  by  fifty  feet  in  the  clear,  and  the 
latter  seventy-two  by  forty  feet. 

The  rolling-mill  will  manufacture  the  present  year 
about  seventeen  hundred  tons  of  iron  into  nail-rods, 
plates  and  hoops. 

Another  nail  factory,  about  one  mile  from  these 
works,  is  supplied  by  them  with  plates  ;  and  on  the 
same  dam  with  it  is  a  forge  where  bar-iron  of  superior 
tenacity  is  made  from  scraps.     Below  these,  on  the 


364  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH. 

same  stream,  is  a  rivet  factorvj  where  may  be  seen  a 
machine  for  making  rivets,  invented  by  Mr.  Timothy 
Allen,  another  ingenious  meclianic  of  Plymouth,  and 
intended  to  supeisede  the  ill-contrived  tools  at  present 
used.  It  has  been  in  successful  operation  one  or 
two  years,  and  fully  answers  the  expectations  of  the 
inventor. 

It  may  not  be  amiss  to  include  in  this  enumeration, 
a  factory  lately  put  in  operation  by  Captain  Samuel 
Bradford,  for  making  staves,  to  be  used  for  nail  casks. 
By  this  machinery  the  staves  are  sawed  from  the  log, 
jointed 7  and  tapered  into  the  precise  form  necessary  to 
give  the  cask  the  required  shape. 

Cotton  Factories.  The  Cotton  Factory  on  Town- 
brook  was  erected  in  1813;  dimensions  ninety-two  by 
thirty-six,  and  is  four  stories,  including  basement  and 
attic.  It  contains  about  sixteen  hundred  spindles  and 
thirty-four  looms,  and  manufactures  from  nine  hun- 
dred to  one  thousand  yards  of  cloth  daily,  all  about 
S  yard  wide,  employing  about  fifty-four  hands. 

The  factory  at  Eel  River  was  erected  in  181 2y 
and  its  dimensions  are  ninety-two  by  thirty-six,  and  is 
six  stories,  including  the  basement  and  attic.  Belong- 
ing to  the  same  establishment  and  at  the  same  dam,  is 
a  smaller  building  which  contains  spinning  machinery 
also. 

There  are  about  two  thousand  spindles  in  both,  and 
about  forty  looms  in  operation.  From  eleven  to  twelve 
hundred  yards  of  cloth  are  manufactured  daily,  part 
of  which  is  three  fourths  and  part  one  yard  wide. 
This  factory  gives  employment  to  about  sixty-four  per- 
sons. The  factory  at  JVIancmet  Ponds  contains  about 
three  hundred  spindles,  and  manufactures  about  50 
pounds  coarse  warp  per  day,  a  considerable  portion  of 
which  is  colored,  and  made  into  cod  and  mackerel  lines, 
which  are  lately  introduced  into  use,  and  bid  fair  to  su- 
persede those  made  of  hemp  altogether.  These  are 
twisted  and  laid  by  water  in  a  small  line-walk  attached 


APPENDIX.  365 

to  the  factory.  There  is  also  a  small  cotton  factory  on 
the  forge  stream  at  Eel  River,  which  inanuiactures 
coarse  warps,  and  a  very  superior  kind  of  wicking  used 
for  making  the  sperm  candles.  There  is  at  the  forge 
dam  at  Eel  River,  a  small  nail  factory,  where  about  one 
thousand  nails  are  made  daily. 

Plymouth  Cordage  Company  w^as  incorporated  in 
1824.  Their  rope-walk  situated  in  the  north  part  of  the 
town  and  near  the  Kingston  line,  is  three  stories  high, 
capable  of  employing  eighty  hands  and  making  five 
hundred  tons  of  cordage  per  year.  Their  cordage  is  of 
the  patent  kind,  in  high  repute,  and  laid  by  water  power. 

There  is  another  rope-walk  in  town,  operating  by 
water  power,  but  no  statement  of  the  extent  of  its  oper- 
ations could  be  procured. 

There  is  also  in  town  a  twine  and  line  manufactory, 
where  eight  tons  of  hemp  are  manufactured  annually 
into  twine  and  various  kinds  of  line,  which  come  to  a 
profitable  market.* 

Ship  building  was  formerly  carried  on  to  considera- 
ble extent  in  this  town,  many  excellent  vessels  have 
been  sent  from  our  ship  yards,  but  the  business  is  now 
diminished  on  account  of  the  scarcity  of  timber.  In 
1779,  a  packet  ship  was  built  in  this  town  for  Congress, 
by  Mr.  John  Peck,  who  was  at  that  time  much  celebra- 
ted for  his  skill  as  a  marine  architect.  The  ship  was 
called  the  Mercury,  and  was  commanded  by  Captain 
Simeon  Sampson,  and  employed  to  carry  public  dis- 
patches to  our  ministers  in  France.  The  ship-yard 
was  on  the  spot  which  is  now  the  garden  of  Captain 
Lothrop  Turner. 

iN'ews  Papers.  In  the  year  1785,  Nathaniel  Cover- 
ly,  of  Boston,  commenced  the  publication  of  a  newspa- 
per in  town,  entitled  the  Plymouth  Journal,  but  from 
its  limited  circulation,  and  our  nearness  to  the  metrop- 
olis, it  was  discontinued  after  a  few  months.  In  1822, 
Mr.  Allen  Danforth  commenced  the  Old  Colony  Me- 

31* 


366  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH. 

moi'ia],  which  is  published  every  Saturday.  This  pa- 
per is  increasing  in  reputaiion  and  is  well  snpporied,r 
Connected  widi  the  printing  office  is  a  newspaper 
reading  room,  where  intelligence  from  various  quarters 
is  daily  received,  and  is  a  pleasant  resort  for  the  read- 
ing gentlemen  at  their  leisure  hours^  Under  the  same 
roof  is  a  book-store  and  bindery,  and  a  circulating  li- 
brary. May  lllh,  1832,  appeared  the  first  number  of 
a  weekly  newspaper,  entitled  the  '  Pilgrim,'  published 
by  Benjamin  Drew,  Jr.  every  Thursday..  This  speci- 
men is  handsomely  executed,  and  skilfully  arranged, 
and  presages  favorably  for  future  numbers. 

There  are  three  licensed  public  taverns  in  town,  all 
of  which  are  commodious,  and  well  provided  and  at- 
tended ;  and  there  are  two  other  taverns  on  the  road 
to  Sandwich. 

Mrs.  Nicholson's  boarding-house,  in  Court  square, 
has  long  been  established,  and  is  known  to  the  public 
for  its  excellent  accommodations. 

The  first  regular  siage  commenced  running  from 
this  town  to  Boston  in  1796.-  We  have  now  a  stage 
establishment  equal  to  any  in  the  country,  running 
daily  in  various  directions,  and  provided  with  excel- 
lent horses  and  careful  and  attentive  drivers. 

There  w'as  no  post  office  in  this  town  prior  to  the 
revolutionary  war. 

The  first  post  office  establishment  was  by  our 
Provincial  Congress,  May  12ih,  1775.  Their  rate  of 
postage  was  considerably  higher  than  at  the  present  time. 
They  established  a  mail  route  from  Caaibridge  through 
Plymouth  and  Sandwich  to  Falmouth,  once  a  week. 
In  June,  1775,  the  Provincial  Congress  appointed  Wil- 
liam Watson,  Esq.,  post  master  in  this  town,  and  Tim- 
o.lhy  Goodwin  and  Joseph  Rowland,  joint  post-riders. 

£.lms  House,  fn  1826,  the  town  purchased  a  {e\v 
acTes  of  land  w^ell  located,  and  erected  a  very  commo- 
dious brick  house  and  out  houses,  at  the  expense  of 
from   four  to  five  thousand  dollars,,  where  the  poor  are 


APPENDIX,  367 

well  accommodated  under  the  care  of  an  overseer,  and 
amply  and  comfortably  provided  for.  The  average 
number  in  the  house  is  thirty-three,  and  the  expense 
to  the  town  for  their  support,  overbalancing  their  earn- 
ings is  about  one  thousand  dollars  annually.  This  sum 
includes  the  expense  of  a  few  individuals  partly  sup- 
ported out  of  the  house. 

Market,  Our  provision  market  affords  an  ample 
supply  of  the  various  substantials,  the  conveniences, 
and  the  luxuries  of  life,  such  as  beef,  pork,  mutton, 
poultry,  and  sometimes  venison.  At  our  fish  market 
we  have  cod,  haddock,  halibut,  mackerel,  bass,  tau- 
taug,  lobsters,  eels,  alewives,  and  clams.  Should 
any  one  complain  for  the  want  of  a  dinner,  he  must  be 
chargeable  with  inexcusable  indolence,  and  probably 
with  intemperance. 

Societies.  Pilgrim  Society.  This  society  was 
established  in  1820,  by  the  descendants  of  the  first  set- 
tlers at  Plymouth,  and  by  such  others  as  were  desirous 
of  perpetuating  their  principles,  and  commemorating 
their  virtues.  The  number  of  members  of  this  socie- 
ty amounts  to  several  hundred,  and  it  is  desirable  that 
the  number  should  be  increased.  The  terms  of  ad- 
mission are  ten  dollars,  and  those  who  duly  appreciate 
the  principles  of  the  institution  and  the  characters  of 
the  puritan  fathers,  cannot  fail  to  unite  in  this  duty  of 
filial  piety,  and  contribute  their  aid  to  its  support.  An 
appropriate  diploma,  prepared  by  Mr.  Penniman,  of 
Boston,  has  been,  and  is  designed  to  be  distributed 
among  the  members.  The  diploma  is  about  15  inches 
by  10,  the  upper  part  gives  a  view  of  Plymouth  har- 
bor, the  beach,  and  island.  Below  is  a  sketch  of  Ply- 
mouth village,  and  surrounding  objects,  as  now  pre- 
sented to  view.  The  stated  meetings  of  the  society 
are  held  at  Pilgrim  Hall,  on  the  22d  of  December,  and 
for  the  choice  of  officers,  the  last  Monday  in  May.  The 
officers  for  the  present  year,  1832,  are,  Alden  Brad- 
ford, president,  Z.  Bartlett,  vice-president,  Benjamin 


368  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH. 

M.  Watson,  recording  secretary,  Pelham  W.  Warren, 
corresponding  secretary,  Isaac  L.  Hedge,  treasurer, 
James  Thacher,  librarian  and  cabinet  keeper.  There 
are  eleven  trustees,  and  a  committee  of  arrangements 
consisting  of  three. 

The  Old  Colony  Peace  Society,  and  the  Plymouth 
County  Temperance  Society,  hold  their  meetings  oc- 
casionally in  this  town.  There  is  in  town  a  Free  Ma- 
son Society,  and  a  Debating  Society.  The  ladies  have 
a  Fragment  Society,  by  which  the  poor  in  town  are  es- 
sentially benefited. 

Plymouth  Bank  was  incorporated  June  23d,  1812, 
capital  $100,000;  first  president,  William  Davis;  cash- 
ier, William  Goodwin.  President,  1832,  Barnabas 
Hedge  ;  cashier,  Nathaniel  Goodwin. 

Plymouth  Institution  for  Savings,  president,  Barna- 
bas Hedge  ;  treasurer,  Allen  Danforth.  Office  at  Ply- 
mouth Bank.  Deposit  days  first  Tuesday  of  every 
month.  Amount  of  deposites  on  the  first  Tuesday  of 
January,  1832,  $50,000. 

Old  Colony  Bank,  incorporated  February,  1832,  cap- 
ital $100,000;  president,  Jacob  Covington  ;  cashier, 
Ebenezer  G.  Parker. 

Temperance.  The  promotion  of  temperance  has 
long  been  an  object  of  solicitude  among  most  of  the 
inhabitants  of  this  town,  and  they  have  wisely  attend- 
ed to  the  awful  desolations  of  intemperance,  and  to  the 
great  work  of  reformation  which  is  now  extending 
around  us.  Most  decided  is  our  opinion  that  this 
alarming  evil  is  only  to  be  suppressed  by  a  general 
union  in  the  means  of  entire  abstinence  from  all  ar- 
dent spirits,  as  a  drink,  or  as  an  auxiliary  to  labor. 
It  is  auspicious  to  our  community  that  it  has  pleased 
Heaven  to  bless  us  with  the  temperance  reformation. 
It  may  be  presumed  that  the  consumption  of  ardent 
spirits,  is  diminished  not  less  than  three  fourths  within 
the  last  seven  years,  and  in  the  same  diminished  pro- 
portion is  life  sacrificed,  health,  happiness,  and  domes- 


APPENDIX.  369 

tic  comfort  destroyed,  and  the  character  and  morals  of 

our  fellow  men  impaired  by  the  practice  of  intemper- 
ance. Long  may  it  be  our  happy  condition  that  our 
temperance  societies  may  meet  with  the  co-operation 
of  all  classes  of  people  in  efforts  to  improve  the  health, 
and  increase  industry,  and  the  means  of  living,  self- 
respect,  love  of  character,  and  give  a  new  impulse  to 
the  domestic  virtues  in  sober  life. 

Formerly  there  were  two  rum  distilleries  in  this  town, 
producing  large  quantities  of  New  England  rum,  from 
which  the  neighboring  towns  were  supplied  with  the 
fiery  element;  and  considerable  quantities  were  sent  to 
the  southern  states  annually.  One  of  these  houses 
vi^as  located  where  Mr.  Gale's  long  house  now  stands, 
and  the  other  occupied  the  lot  now  vacant,  adjoining 
the  house  of  Mr.  William  Holmes.  This  was  taken 
down  in  1814,  and  we  hope  never  to  see  another  erect- 
ed. 

It  is  a  matter  of  gratula^ion  that  there  is  so  great  a 
combination  against  intemperance  throughout  our  coun- 
try. It  is  truly  honorable  to  all  who  enlist  in  this  ho- 
ly warfare  ;  and  may  God  grant  that  every  effort  cal- 
culated to  annihilate  the  practice  of  inebriation,  may  be 
crowned  with  success. 


The  following  is  a  list  of  the  names  of  those  gentle- 
men who  have  delivered  discourses  in  the  town  on  the 
anniversary  of  the  arrival  of  our  Forefathers.  Those 
marked  with  an  asterisk,  {^)   have  not  been  printed. 

1769,  First  celebration  by  Old  Colony  Club. 

1770,  Second  celebration  by  Old  Colony  Club. 

1771,  Third  celebration  by  Old  Colony  Club. 

1772,  Rev.  Chandler  Robbins— For  Old  Colony 
Club. 

1773,  Rev.  Charles  Turner— For  Old  Colony  Club. 
By  the  town  and  by  the  first  parish. 


^!tX)  HISTORY    OF    PLYMOUTH. 

1774,  Rev.  Gad  Hitchcock,  Pembroke. 

1775,  Rev.  Samuel  Baldwin,  Hanover. 

1776,  Rev.  Sylvanus  Conant,  Middleborough. 

1777,  Rev.  Samuel  West,  Dartmouth. 

1778,  Rev.  Timothy  Hilliard,  Barnstable.* 

1779,  Rev.  William  Shaw,  Marshfield.* 

1780,  Rev.  Jonathan  Moor,  Rochester.* 

From  this  time  the  public  observances  of  the  day 
was  suspended,  till 

1794,  Rev.  Chandler  Robbins,  D.  D.  of  Plymouth. 

1795,  ^ 

1796,  >  Private  Celebration. 

1797,  ) 

1798,  Dr.  Zaccheus  Bartlett,  Plymouth,  Oration.* 

1799,  The  day  came  so  near  that  appointed  for  the 
ordination  of  Rev.  Mr.  Kendall,  that  it  was  not  cel- 
ebrated by  a  public  discourse. 

1800,  John  Davis,  Esq.,  Boston,  Oration.* 

1801,  Rev.  John  Allyn,  D.  D.,  Duxbury. 

1802,  John  Q.  Adams,  Esq.,  Quincy,  Oration. 

1803,  Rev.  John  T.  Kirkland,  D.  D.,  Boston.* 

1804,  (Lord's  Day)  Rev.  James  Kendall,  Ply- 
mouth.* 

1805,  Alden  Bradford,  Esq.,  Boston. 

1806,  Rev.  Abiel  Holmes,  D.  D.,  Cambridge. 

1807,  Rev.  James  Freeman,  D.  D.,  Boston.* 

1808,  Rev.  Thaddeus  M.  Harris,  Dorchester. 

1809,  Rev.  Abiel  Abbot,  Beverly. 
1811,  Rev.  John  Elliot,  D.  D.  Boston. 
1815,  Rev.  James  Flint,  Bridgewater. 

1817,  Rev.  Horace  Holley,  Boston.* 

1818,  Wendell  Davis,  Esq.,  Sandwich.* 

1819,  Francis  C.  Gray,  Esq.,  Boston.* 

1820,  Daniel  Webster,  Esq.,  Boston,  by  Pilgrim 
Society. 

1824,  Professor  Edward  Everett,  Cambridge,  by 
Pilgrim  Society. 


APPENDIX.  371 

1829,  Hon.  William  Sullivan,  Boston,  by  Pilgrim 
Society. 

1831,  Rev.  John  Brazer,  Salem,  by  First  Parish  in 
Plymouth. 

The  following  anniversaries  were  commemorated  by 
the  third  parish  in  Plymouth. 

1826,  Rev.  Richard  S.  Storrs,  Braintree. 

1827,  Rev.  Lyman  Beecher,  D.  D.,  Boston. 

1828,  Rev.  Samuel  Green,  Boston. 

1829,  Rev.  Daniel  Huntington,  Bridgewater. 

1830,  Rev.  Benjamin  Wisner,  D.  D.,  Boston. 

1831,  Rev,  John  Codman,  D.  D.,  Dorchester. 


HYMNS,    ODES,    he. 

Written  for  the  Anniversaries  of  the  Landing  vf 
the  Pilgrims. 


Hymn  for  the  22d  of  December. 

Tune—*  Old  Hundred: 

Hail,  .Pilgrim  Fathers  of  our  race  ! 
With  grateful  hearts,  your  toils  we  (race  ; 
Again  this  Votive  Day  returns. 
And  finds  us  bending  o'er  your  urns. 

Jehovah's  arm  prepar'd  the  road  ; 
The  Heathen  vanish'd  at  his  nod  : 
He  gave  his  Vine  a  lasting  root ; 
He  loads  his  goodly  boughs  with  fruit. 

The  hills  are  cover'd  with  its  shade  ; 
Its  thousand  shoots  like  cedars  spread : 
Its  branches  to  the  sea  expand, 
And  reach  to  broad  Suj)erior's  strand. 

Of  peace  and  truth  the  gladsome  ray 
Smiles  in  our  skies  and  cheers  the  day  ; 
And  a  new  Empire's  'splendent  wheels 
Roll  o'er  the  tops  of  western  hills. 

Hail,  Pilgrim  Fathers  of  our  race  ! 
With  grateful  hearts  your  toils  we  trace  ; 
Oft  as  this  Votive  Day  returns. 
We'll  pay  due  honors  to  your  urns, 
32 


1 


374         hymns  and  odes. 

Ode  for  the  22d  of  December. 

By  Hon.  John  Davis. 

Composed  for  the  Anniversary  Festival  at  Plymouth,  in  the 
year  1793. 

Sons  of  renov/ned  Sires, 
Join  in  harrrvonious  choirs. 

Swell  your  loud  songs; 
Daughters  of  peerless  dames. 
Come  with  your  mild  acclaims, 
Let  their  revered  names 

Dwell  on  your  tongues. 

From  frowning  Alhion's  seat. 
See  the  fam'd  band  retreat. 

On  ocean  tost; 
Blue  tumbling  billows  roar, 
By  keel  scarce  plou;^h'd  before. 
And  bear  them  to  this  shore, 

Fetter'd  with  frost. 

By  yon  wave-beaten  Rock, 
See  the  illustrious  flock 

Collected  stand ; 
To  seek  some  sheltering  grove, 
Tiieir  faithful  partners  move. 
Dear  pledges  of  their  love 

In  either  hand. 

Not  winter's  sullen  face, 
Mot  the  fierce  tawny  race 

In  arms  array  *d  ; 
"Not  hunger  shook  their  faith, 
Not  sickness'  baleful  breath, 
Nor  Carver's  early  death 

Their  souls  dismay'd. 


HYMNS    AND    ODES.  375  | 

Water'd  by  heavenly  dew,  {^ 

The  Germ  of  Empire  grew,  ^ 

Freedom  its  loot  ;  t) 

From  the  cold  northern  pine,  ^ 

Far  I'ward  the  burning  line, 
Spreads  the  luxuriant  vine, 

Bending  with  fruit. 


Columbia,  child  of  heav'n. 
The  best  of  blessings  giv'n, 

Rest  on  thy  head  ; 
Beneath  thy  peaceful  skies, 
While  prosperous  tides  arise. 
Here  turn  thy  grateful  eyes. 

Revere  the  dead. 


Here  trace  the  moss-grown  stones, 
"Where  rest  their  inould'ring  bones. 

Again  to  rise  ; 
And  let  thy  sons  be  led. 
To  emulate  the  dead, 
While  o'er  their  tombs  they  tread 

With  moisten'd  eyes. 

Sons  of  renowned  Sires, 
Join  in  harmonious  choirs, 

Swell  your  loud  songs  ; 
Daughters  of  peerless  dames. 
Come  with  your  mild  acclaims, 
Let  their  revered  names 

Dwell  on  jour  tongueg- 


376  HYMNS    AND    ODES. 


Hymn. —  Composed  by  Rev.  Dr.  Holmes. 

Sung  at  the  186th  Anniversary  of  the  Landing  of  the  Fathert 
at  Phjmouth,  December  22d,  1806. 

Tune—'  Old  Hundred: 

Our  Father's  God  !  to  Thee  we  raise, 
With  one  accord,  tije  song  of  praise  ; 
To  thee  our  grateful  tribute  pay.. 
Oft  as  returns  this  festal  day. 

With  tearful  eyes  we  here  will  trace 
Thy  wonders  to  the  Pilgrim  race, 
And  while  those  wonders  we  explore. 
Their  names  extol,  thy  name  adore. 

Our  Father's  God  !  Thy  own  decree 
Ordain'd  the  Pilgrims  to  be  free  ; 
In  foreign  lands  they  own'd  thy  care, 
And  found  a  safe  asylum  there. 

When  the  wide  main  they  travers'd  o'er. 
And  landed  on  this  sea-beat  shore. 
The  Pi)  ofrims'  Rock  must  e'er  proclaim 
Thy  guardian  care  was  still  the  same. 

Our  Father's  God  !  while  here  we  trace 
Our  lineage  to  the  Pilgrim  race, 
O  may  we  like  those  PilgrirHS  live, 
And  in  the  sons  the  sires  revive. 

Our  Father's  God  !  to  thee  we  raise, 
With  one  accord,  the  song  of  praise  ; 
To  thee  our  grateful  tribute  pay, 
Ofl  as  returns  this  festal  day. 


HYMNS    AND    ODES. 


Two  Hundred  Years  ago. 


377 


■The  following  Song,  composed  by  Rev-  Dr.  Flint,  for  the  oc- 
casion, was  sung  at  the  Public  Dinner  at  Plymouth,  on 
the  22d  December,  1820. 

1.  Come,  listen  to  my  story, 

ThougVi  often  told  before. 
Of  men  who  pass'd  to  e;lory, 

Through  toil  and  travail  sore  ; 
Of  men  who  did  for  conscience  sake 

Their  na'.ive  land  for3go, 
And  sought  a  home  and  freedom  here 

Two  hundred  years  ago. 

2.  0,  'twas  no  earthborn  passion, 

That  bade  the  adventurers  stray  ; 
The  world  and  all  its  fashion. 

With  them  had  passed  away. 
A  voice  from  heaven  bade  them  look 

Above  the^hings  below^. 
When  here  they  sought  a  resting  place 
Two  hundred  years  ago. 

3.  O,  dark  the  scene  and  dreary, 

When  here  they  set  them  down; 
Of  storms  and  billows  weary, 

And  chill'd  with  winter's  fiown. 
Deep  moan'd  the  forests  to  the  wind, 

Loud  howl'd  the  savage  foe. 
While  here  their  evening  piayer  arose 

Two  hundred  years  ago. 

4.  '  Twould  drown  the  heart  in  sorrow 

To  tell  of  all  their  woes ; 
Nor  respite  could  they  borrow, 
•    But  from  the  grave's  repo'=:e. 
Yet  nought  could  daunt  the  Pilgrim  Band, 

Or  sink  their  courage  low, 
Who  came  to  plant  the  Gospel  here 
Two  hundred  years  ago. 

32* 


378  HYMNS    AND    ODES. 

5.  With  humble  prayer  and  frsting, 

In  every  strait  and  grief. 

They  sought  the  Everlasting, 

And  found  a  sure  relief. 
Their  cov'nant  God  o'ershadowM  them. 

Their  shield  from  every  foe. 
And  gave  them  here  a  dwelling  place 
Two  hundred  years  ago. 

6.  Of  fair  New-England's  glory, 

They  laid  the  corner  stone ; 
This  praise,  in  deathless  story, 

Their  grateful  sons  shall  own. 
Prophetic  they  foresaw  in  tirae, 

A    mighty  state  should  grow. 
From  them  a  few,  faint  Pilgrims  here, 

Tivo  hundred  years  ago. 

7.  If  greatness  be  in  daring, 

Our  Pilgrim  Sires  were^reat. 
Whose  sojourn  here,  unsparing, 

Disease  and  famine  wait; 
And  oft  their  treach'rous  foes  combin'd 

To  lay  the  strangers  low, 
While  founding  here  their  commonwealth 

Two  hundred  years  ago. 

8.  Though  seeming  overzealous 

In  things  by  us  deem'd  light. 
They  were  but  duly  jealous 

Of  power  usurping  right. 
They  nobly  chose  to  part  with  all 

Most  dear  to  men  below. 
To  worship  here  their  God  in  peace, 

Two  hundred  years  ago. 

9.  From  seeds  they  sowed  with  weeping. 

Our  richest  harvests  rise. 
We  still  the  fruits  are  reaping 
Of  Pilgrim  enterprize. 


HYMNS    AND    ODES.  379 

Then  grateful  we  to  them  will  pay 

The  debt  of  faiiie  we  owe. 
Who  planted  here  the  tree  oflife 

Two  hundred  years  ago. 

10.  As  comes  this  period  yearly. 

Around  our  cheerful  fires, 
We'll  think  and  tell  how  dearly 

Our  comforts  cost  our  sires. 
For  them  will  wake  the  votive  song, 

And  bid  the  canvass  glow. 
Who  fix'd  the  home  of  freedom  here 

Two  hundred  years  ago. 


ODE 


For  the    Celebration  of  the  Anniversary  of   the  Pilgrim 
Society  of  Plymouth,  22d  December,  1824. 

By    J.    PlERPONT. 

The  pilgrim  fathers — where  are  they? 

The  waves  that  brought  them  o'er 
Still  roll  in  the  bay,  and  throw  their  spray 

As  they  break  along  the  shore : 
Still  roll  in  the  bay,  as  they  rolled  that  day, 

When  the  Mayflower  moored  below. 
When  the  sea  around  was  black  with  storms, 

And  white  the  shore  with  snow. 

The  mists,  that  wrapped  the  pilgrim's  sleep. 

Still  brood  upon  the  tide  ; 
And  his  rocks  yet  keep  their  watch  by  the  deep, 

To  stay  its  waves  of  pride. 
But  the  snow-white  sail,  that  he  gave  to  the  gale 

When  the  heavens  looked  dark,  is  gone  : — 
As  an  angel's  wing,  through  an  opening  cloud. 

Is  seen,  and  then  withdrawn. 


380  HYMNS    AND    ODES. 

The  pilgrim  exile — sainted  name! — 

The  hill,  whose  icy  brow 
Rejoiced,  when  he  came,  in  the  morning's  flame, 

In  the  morning's  flame  burns  now. 
And  the  moon's  cold  light  as  it  lay  that  night 

On  the  hill-side  and  the  sea. 
Still  lies  where  he  laid  his  houseless  head  ; — 

But  the  pilgrim — where  is  he  ? 

The  pilgrim  fathers  are  at  rest : 

When  Summer's  throned  on  high, 
And  the  world's  warm  breast  is  in  verdure  dressed, 

Go,  stand  on  the  hill  where  they  lie. 
The  earliest  ray  of  the  golden  day 

On  that  hallowed  spot  is  cast 5 
And  the  evening  sun,  as  he  leaves  the  world, 

Looks  kindly  on  that  spot  last. 

The  pilgrim  spirit  has  not  fled : 

It  walks  in  noon's  broad  light ; 
And  it  watches  the  bed  of  (he  glorious  dead, 

With  the  holy  stars,  by  night. 
It  watches  the  bed  of  the  brave  who  have  bled. 

And  shall  guard  this  ice-bound  shore, 
Till  the  waves  of  the  bay,  where  the  Mayflower  lay. 

Shall  foam  and  freeze  no  more. 


Original  Hymn. 

By  Rev.  S.  Deane,  for  the  22d  of  Dec  ember,  1831. 

Lo  !  the  rising  star  of  Freedom 

Once  our  pilgrim  fathers  blest } 

By  her  light,  ordained  to  lead  them, 

To  the  land  of  promised  rest. 

Star  of  heaven ! 

Star  of  heaven! 

Trav'ling  toward  the  distant  west 


HYMNS    AND    ODES. 

While  their  countless  toils  enduring, 

Faif.h  the  promise  kept  in  sijgjht : 

For  themselves  and  sons  securingj, 

Home  and  country,  truth  and  light. 

Star  oi  heaven ! 

Star  of  heaven! 

Pointing  to  Jehovah's  might. 

Now  their  relics  round  us  lying. 

Grateful  children  guard  their  clay  ; 
While  their  spirits  never  dying, 
Hope  has  borne  on  wings  away  : 
Star  of  heaven! 
Star  of  heaven ! 
Guiding  to  a  brighter  day- 
Raise  we  honors  to  their  merit. 

Temples  sculptured  with  their  name  ? 
No !  their  virtues  to  inherit. 

Seals  their  bright  and  conscious  fame. 
Stars  of  heaven! 
Stars  uf  heaven  ! 
High  they  shine  with  ceaseless  flame. 

See  the  lights  around  us  gleaming, 
Still  to  guide  the  pilgrim's  eyes  : 
See  the  star  of  empire  beaming 
Bids  their  children's  glory  rise. 
Star  of  heaven  i 
Star  of  heaven! 
Glowing  still  in  western  skies. 


381 


Original  Hymn, 

For  the  Dedication  of  the  Mew  Church, 
By  Rev.  J.  Pierpont. 

1.  The  winds  and  waves  are  roaring: 
The  Pilgrims  met  for  prayer; 
And  here,  their  God  adoring, 
They  stood  in  open  air. 


382  HYMNS    AND    ODES. 

When  breakino-  day  they  greeted, 
And  when  its  close  was  calm, 

The  leafless  woods  repeated 
The  music  of  their  psalm. 

2.  Not  thus,  O  God,  1o  praise  thee, 

Do  we,  their  children  throng: 
The  temple's  arch  we  raise  thee 

Gives  back  our  choral  song. 
Yet,  on  the  winds  that  bore  thee 

Their  worship  and  their  prayers. 
May  ours  come  up  before  thee 

From  hearts  as  true  as  theirs  ! 

8.  Wha<^  have  we.  Lord,  to  bird  us 

To  this,  the  Pilgrim's  shore  ! — 
Their  hill  of  graves  behind  us, 

Their  watery  way  before. 
The  wintry  surge,  that  dashes 

Against  the  rocks  they  trod. 
Their  memory,  and  tbcir  ashes — 

Be  thou  their  guard,  O  God ! 

4.  We  would  not,  Holy  Father, 
Forsake  this  hallowed  spot, 
Till  on  that  shore  we  gather 

Where  graves  and  griefs  are  not 
The  shore  where  true  devotion 
Shall  rear  no  pillared  shrine, 
And  see  no  other  ocean 
Than  that  of  love  divine. 


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